The  True  History 

of  the 

Civil  War 

By 

Guy    Carleton    Lee,    Ph.D. 


Of  Johns  Hopkins  University 


With  Twenty-four  Illustrations  and  Maps 


Ego  verum  amo,  verum  volo  mihi  dici :  mendaccm  odl" 


Philadelphia  &f  London 
J.   B.   Lippincott    Company 

1903 


.w 


Copyright,  1903 
BY   GUY  CARLETON  LEE 

Published  November    IO 


Electrotyped  and  Printed  by 
J.  B.  Lippincott  Company,  Philadelphia,  U.  S.  A. 


TO 


GEORGE   BARRIE,  SR. 


334247 


Preface 

THE  burden  of  authorship  is  indeed  heavy,  but 
the  responsibility  of  title-making  is  insupportable. 
Therefore,  while  I  bear  the  onus  that  may  fall 
upon  me  because  of  the  contents  of  this  book,  I 
leave  to  my  publishers  the  credit — or  the  blame — 
that  may  come  from  the  title  which  they  have 
selected.  Presumptuous,  no  doubt,  I  am  to  attempt 
to  crowd  within  the  space  at  my  command  a  his 
tory  of  the  Civil  War,  but,  believe  me,  to  my  sins 
of  commission  cannot  be  added  that  of  arrogantly 
assuming  that  this  book  of  mine  is  the  only  "  true" 
history  of  the  war  between  the  States.  Indeed,  so 
clearly  do  I  recognize  the  futility  of  such  a  claim, 
that  here,  in  all  humility  and  gratitude,  I  express 
my  obligations  to  the  distinguished  historians  and 
the  score  and  more  of  patient  students  whose  re 
searches  have  made  my  work  the  easier,  as  well  as 
to  those  persons  who  have  placed  at  my  disposal 
the  original  sources  upon  which  I  in  great  part 
rely;  and  I  am  especially  indebted  to  W.  R.  Gar- 
rett,  of  Nashville,  Oakley  P.  Haines,  of  Baltimore, 
and  Alfred  Brittain,  of  Newark,  not  only  for  their 
kindness  in  reading  the  proof  of  this  volume,  but 
for  the  many  helpful  suggestions  made  by  them. 

I  may  say,  without  disparagement  to  the  his 
torians  whose  works  have  won  deserved  credit,  that 
the  word  "  True,"  which  the  publishers  have 

5 


6X.    '  ;  ..         PREFACE 

chosen  as  best  describing  this  book,  has  in  it  some 
thing  of  force.  It  does  not,  as  here  used,  mean 
absolutely  free  from  error.  "  True,"  in  our  title, 
means  unprejudiced  and  non-sectional,  and  in  this 
sense  I  accept  it  as  placing  my  book  in — not  out 
side  of — the  ranks  of  those  histories  which  have 
won  the  respect  of  their  readers.  Perhaps,  too,  in 
following  out  the  idea  expressed  by  the  word 
'  True,"  I  have  succeeded  in  producing  a  book  that 
in  some  degree  differs  from  existing  histories  in 
that  it  is  not  written  from  the  stand-point  of  a 
neutral.  What  is  said  of  any  section  is  said  as  a 
partisan  of  that  section.  I  have  endeavored  when 
writing  of  the  North  to  write  as  a  Northerner,  of 
the  South  as  a  Southerner,  and  in  all  this  as  an 
American  upon  whom  all  the  States  have  a  claim. 
The  book  attempts  no  balancing,  no  hedging,  no 
glossing,  and  it  seeks  no  "  golden  mean," — for 
there  is  no  true  mean  in  passion,  and  the  Civil  War 
was  a  conflict  of  passion.  I  give,  therefore,  a  book 
of  extremes — of  uncompromising  conclusions.  I 
present  men  and  events  as  they  were,  not  as  they 
might  have  been.  In  this  presentation  I  have 
necessarily  written  plainly,  perhaps  brutally,  but 
in  every  case  in  strict  honesty. 

GUY  CARLETON  LEE. 

JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY. 


Contents 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — IN  THE  BEGINNING  n 

II. — THE  SLAVERY  PROBLEM  24 

III. — PRECEDENT  EVENTS  54 

IV. — THE  NATIONALIZATION  OF  SLAVERY 88 

V. — KANSAS — BUCHANAN'S  ADMINISTRATION   112 

VI.— THE  ELECTION  OF  LINCOLN   131 

VII.— THE  FIRST  BLOWS 156 

VIII.— THE  THREE-MONTHS  WAR  185 

IX. — PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  LONG  CONFLICT 208 

X. — SOUTHERN  SUCCESSES 242 

XL— THE  WAR  IN  THE  WEST 264 

XII.— THE  WAR  IN  VIRGINIA 294 

XIII.— LEE'S  INVASIONS   3*3 

XIV. — SHERMAN'S  MARCH 34* 

XV.— GRANT  ENDS  THE  STRUGGLE 372 

XVI. — RECONSTRUCTION    394 


List  of  Illustrations  and  Maps 

PAGE 

NEWSPAPER  POSTER  ANNOUNCING  THE  DISSOLUTION  OF  THE 

UNION Frontispiece 

CALHOUN,  WEBSTER,  AND  CLAY 64 

From  a  photograph  by  Brady 

WILLIAM  LLOYD  GARRISON 68 

LETTER  FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  TO  SALMON  P.  CHASE...     92 
STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS 136 

From  a  photograph  by  Brady 

MAP  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  1860 142 

JEFFERSON  DAVIS 146 

ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS 164 

From  a  photograph  by  Brady 

GENERAL  WINFIELD  SCOTT 176 

From  a  photograph  by  Brady 

GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE 192 

GENERAL  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 216 

From  a  photograph  by  Brady 

REFERENCE  MAP  FOR  THE  CIVIL  WAR,   1861-65   22^ 

LETTER  FROM  JEFFERSON  DAVIS  TO  P.  C.  JOHNSON 236 

LETTER  FROM  "STONEWALL"  JACKSON  TO  MAJOR  FRENCH  .  244 
MAP  OF  THE  VICINITY  OF  VICKSBURG,  ILLUSTRATING  OPERA 
TIONS   OF  GENERAL  GRANT'S  ARMY,  APRIL  AND  MAY, 
1863 286 

LETTER  FROM  GENERAL  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 290 

9 


io      LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS   AND   MAPS 

PAGE 

LETTER    FROM    GENERAL    ROBERT    E.    LEE    TO    GENERAL 

JAMES  LONGSTREET 296 

MAP  OF  THE  THEATRE  OF  WAR  IN  VIRGINIA 302 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 322 

From  a  photograph  by  Brady 

ANTI-ABOLITION  PLACARD r 330 

PLACARD  ISSUED  BY  GOVERNOR  CURTIN,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA, 
CALLING  FOR  VOLUNTEERS  FOR  THE  DEFENCE  OF  THE 

STATE,  JUNE,  1863 336 

THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  CRATER 384 

From  the  painting  by  Elder 

POSTER  ANNOUNCING  THE  REWARD  FOR  THE  APPREHENSION 

OF  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S  ASSASSIN 396 

GENERAL  LEE  ON  "  TRAVELLER" 404 


[The  poster  of  the  Charleston  Mercury  and  \hzfac-s-imile  letters  appearing 
in  this  volume  are  reproduced  by  kindly  permission  from  the  collection  of  the 
Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania.] 


The  True  History  of  the 
Civil  War 


IN    THE    BEGINNING 

THE  seeds  of  dissension  between  the  North 
and  the  South  were  carried  to  Virginia  in  the 
ships  commanded  by  Newport,  and  to  Massachu 
setts  in  the  "  Mayflower."  Each  kind  fell  upon 
soil  well  adapted  to  nourish  its  characteristics. 
The  progress  of  the  colonization  and  settle 
ment  of  the  sections  was  so  affected  by  natural 
laws  that  the  germs  of  antagonism  developed 
until  dissensions  in  opinion  became  conflicts 
of  force;  and  the  union  of  States,  the  result  of 
rebellion  and  compromise,  was  well-nigh  perma 
nently  dissolved  into  congeries  of  conflicting 
democracies. 

Elemental  causes  of  the  great  conflict  between 
the  sections  may  be  seen,  for  example,  in  the 
spatial  separation  of  the  people,  their  differing 
social  antecedents  in  the  old  country,  the  indus 
trial  and  social  results  of  contrasting  climatic  in 
fluences,  and  the  political  consequences  of  differ 
ing  locations  and  environments.  In  all  this, 

XI 


12  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

however,   there   is  not   found   anything  that  is 
necessarily  productive  of  disunion. 

In  the  beginning  of  their  history  the  people  of 
the  United  States  were  not  far  from  being  homo 
geneous.  It  is  safe  to  say  that,  under  similar 
succeeding  conditions,  racial  differences,  as  well 
as  those  resulting  from  social  status,  might  have 
disappeared,  for  there  was  no  natural  barrier 
between  North  and  South;  indeed,  the  confor 
mation  of  the  country  is  as  if  it  were  designed 
for  one  people.  Of  this  Abraham  Lincoln  made 
a  point  in  his  inaugural  address : 

"  We  cannot  separate,  we  cannot  remove  our  respective 
sections  from  each  other.  We  cannot  build  an  impassable 
wall  between  them.  A  husband  and  a  wife  may  be  divorced, 
and  go  out  of  the  presence  and  beyond  the  reach  of  each 
other,  but  the  different  parts  of  our  country  cannot  do  this. 
They  cannot  but  remain  face  to  face,  and  intercourse, 
either  amicable  or  hostile,  must  continue  between  them." 

Nevertheless,  there  was  in  the  beginning  an 
almost  imperceptible  rift  between  the  people  of 
the  North  and  those  of  the  South.  This  grad 
ually  widened  until,  notwithstanding  the  neces 
sity  for  union,  a  separation  in  sentiment,  thought, 
and  custom  arose.  This  estrangement  developed 
until  it  gave  to  the  people  of  the  North  and  the 
South  the  aspect  of  two  races,  manifesting 
towards  each  other  all  the  antipathy  of  rival 
and  dissimilar  nations  and,  in  their  disagree 
ments,  rendering  impossible  either  sympathy 
with  each  other's  stand-point  or  patient  listen 
ing  to  each  other's  contention. 


IN   THE   BEGINNING  13 

The  direct  cause  of  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
between  the  States  was  slavery;  the  direct  object 
of  the  prosecution  of  the  war  was  the  preserva 
tion  of  the  Union;  but  rightly  to  understand 
these  patent  elements  of  the  conflict,  the  far- 
descending  causes  must  be  traced  back  to  those 
influences  which  threw  the  North  and  the  South 
out  of  sympathy  with  each  other. 

The  differentiation  of  the  American  people  ap 
pears  to  have  had  its  beginning  in  the  original, 
pre-colonial  British  stock  from  which  they  were 
derived.  To  the  North,  in  the  days  of  settle 
ment,  came  the  alert,  democratic,  middle-class 
townspeople,  while  the  Southern  colonists  were, 
in  large  part,  of  the  rural  aristocratic  type. 

As  two  distinct  classes  of  English  society  set 
tled  America,  so  did  two  distinct  principles 
actuate  and  control  the  settlement  itself, — mate 
rial  interests,  as  sought  by  the  individual  adven 
turer  as  well  as  by  the  whole  colony;  ideas, 
seeking  a  refuge  in  the  wilderness  from  cramp 
ing  intolerance  at  home.  The  former  directed 
the  original  settlement  of  the  South;  the  latter 
were,  in  great  measure,  the  cause  of  the  earliest 
immigrations  to  the  North  and  more  especially 
to  New  England. 

Newport  brought  to  Jamestown  one  hundred 
and  five  souls,  of  whom  one-half  were  gentlemen 
expecting  nothing  other  than  to  live  as  such 
on  estates  the  like  of  which  the  law  of  primo 
geniture  denied  to  them  in  the  Old  World.  The 
"  Mayflower"  conveyed  a  company  of  people 


14  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

who  were  prepared  to  cling  desperately  to  any 
conditions  in  which  liberty  was  a  possible 
feature. 

We  cannot  afford  to  overlook  the  influence 
exerted  on  early  American  social  and  political 
conceptions  by  the  nature  of  the  agricultural 
products  of  the  different  sections  of  the  country. 
While,  under  the  conditions  then  prevailing,  the 
crops  of  the  South  could  be  cultivated  profitably 
only  upon  a  large  scale  and  by  some  sort  of 
system  of  enforced  labor,  those  of  the  North,  in 
the  very  nature  of  things,  made  for  small  farms 
tilled  by  the  owners  themselves.  In  the  South, 
therefore,  the  bondage  of  the  black  race  found 
easy  and  welcome  acceptance.  Large  holdings, 
aristocratic  institutions,  and  slave  labor  were 
natural  to  Virginia  and  the  other  Southern  colo 
nies,  while  in  New  England  small  holdings,  dem 
ocratic  institutions,  and  free  labor  prevailed. 
The  contrast  is  such,  therefore,  that  divergence 
of  habit  and  sentiment  can  alone  be  expected 
in  the  succeeding  history.  Would  the  results 
have  been  the  same  had  the  colonists  of  Virginia 
settled  in  Massachusetts  Bay  and  those  aboard 
the  "  Mayflower"  disembarked  on  the  banks  of 
the  James  River? 

We  have,  then,  two  peoples  who,  though  geo 
graphically  undivided,  inevitably  drew  apart 
from  each  other  because,  the  dominant  strain  in 
each  originally  sprang  from  different  classes  of 
society  and  because  of  the  results  of  dissimilar 
environment. 


IN   THE   BEGINNING  15 

The  social  contrast  between  the  colonists  of 
the  two  sections  has,  however,  been  frequently 
thrust  into  too  great  prominence.  We  must  re 
member  that  there  was  a  strong  sprinkling  of 
Independents  and  Covenanters  throughout  the 
South,  and  not  a  few  scions  of  the  gentry  class 
went  to  Massachusetts  Bay  and  Connecticut.  It 
is,  nevertheless,  true  and  vitally  important  that 
the  royalist  faction  impressed  its  character  on 
Southern  social  and  political  habits  of  thought 
and  action,  while  its  despised  rival  laid  the  foun 
dation  of  New  England.  But  in  both  North  and 
South  office-holding  became  a  mark  of  distinc 
tion  and  the  starting-point  of  an  indigenous 
aristocracy. 

A  free  soil  for  Puritanism  peopled  Massachu 
setts  ;  a  desire  to  better  their  material  well-being 
sent  colonists  to  Virginia.  It  may  be  open  to 
question  as  to  whether  burning  old  women  for 
witchcraft  or  paying  one  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  of  tobacco  for  a  wife  were  a  more  de 
cided  reversion  to  barbarism;  at  all  events,  the 
Puritans  did  not  hesitate  to  enslave  the  pagan 
aborigines,  and  African  domestic  servitude  ex 
isted  in  all  the  colonies,  while  an  active  com 
merce  in  slaves  sprang  up  throughout  the  South ; 
but  in  course  of  time  the  social  ideals  as  well 
as  the  industrial  conditions  of  the  North  grew 
more,  as  those  of  the  South  grew  less,  impatient 
of  slavery. 

Men  who  have  been  persecuted  cultivate  in 
tolerance  when  they  come  into  power;  conse- 


1 6  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

quently,  the  laissez  faire  principle  was  an  impos 
sibility  in  New  England.  The  immoderation  of 
the  abolitionist  descended  to  New  Englanders 
by  direct  inheritance  from  the  narrowness  of  the 
Puritan.  When  the  descendants  of  the  Puritans 
once  formed  the  notion  that  a  thing  was  wrong, 
no  consideration  of  expediency,  extenuating  cir 
cumstance,  or  the  necessities  of  the  times  could 
divert  them  from  utterly  denouncing  it.  It  was 
this  habit  in  their  manner  of  dealing  with  slavery 
which  later  on  so  thoroughly  exasperated  the 
South.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Southern  peo 
ple  took  little  pains  to  adapt  themselves  to 
the  peculiarities  of  their  Northern  neighbors,  for 
the  ruling  class  had  not  been  bred  to  regard 
with  favor  a  policy  of  conciliation.  Convinced 
of  the  justice  of  their  cause,  and  even  more  confi 
dent  of  their  ability  to  carry  their  point,  the  de 
scendants  of  the  Cavaliers  strove  against  the 
sons  of  the  Puritans,  and  this,  too,  with  an  air  of 
superiority  that  caused  New  England  to  swallow 
hard,  to  gulp  back,  if  need  were,  her  rage. 

The  disproportion  between  the  natural  advan 
tages  of  North  and  South  is  plain,  though  the 
worth  of  that  difference  is  by  no  means  so  ap 
parent.  When  the  colonies  had  developed  into 
States,  the  natural  differences  between  the  sec 
tions  were  more  noticeable. 

Despite  her  climatic  and  geographic  advan 
tages,  upon  which  great  stress  has  been  laid  by 
many  historians,  the  South  was  behind  the  North 
in  every  element  that  made  for  permanent  pros- 


IN   THE   BEGINNING  17 

perity,  and  much  of  her  advantage  was  unavail 
able.  Each  census  marked  an  advance  in  the 
status  of  the  North,  and  each  census  warned 
the  South  that,  unless  some  action  were  taken  to 
check  the  movement  of  the  North  or  add  to  the 
progress  of  the  South,  the  day  might  speedily 
come  when  the  power  of  the  slave-holding  States 
would  be  as  nothing  against  that  of  the  free 
States  with  their  numerical  preponderance  "  and 
the  ability  to  control  the  legislation  of  Congress, 
which,  under  the  Constitution,  was  theirs  by 
virtue  of  their  resistless  majority." 

The  differences  in  status  and  habitat  did  not, 
however,  in  the  first  years  of  settlement,  produce 
a  conflict  of  opinion  upon  what  was  to  be  a 
question  that  the  Civil  War  alone  could  answer. 
The  subjection  of  the  blacks  to  enforced  ser 
vitude  was,  in  the  beginning  of  the  history  of 
the  United  States,  considered  compatible  with 
both  justice  and  Christianity.  As  the  industry 
of  the  South  was  confined  to  agriculture  and  the 
raising  of  semi-tropical  products,  slavery  was 
there  regarded  as  making  for  the  welfare  of  the 
section.  But  the  manufacturers  and  traders  of 
the  North  could  not  avail  themselves  of  slave 
labor.  Nature  herself  excluded  New  England 
from  all  possibility  of  a  wide-spread  system  of 
African  bondage.  This  was  realized  more 
quickly  than  the  idea  of  the  unrighteousness  of 
the  traffic  was  conceived,  for,  in  many  cases,  the 
thrifty  farmers  sent  their  blacks  to  the  South  to 
be  sold. 


1 8  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

Slavery  was  not,  therefore,  a  source  of  mis 
understanding.  It  is  true  that  at  the  very  first 
Congress  petitions  were  received  praying  for  its 
abolition.  They  were  from  Pennsylvania  and 
New  York.  But  there  were  those  in  the  South, 
even  among  the  ranks  of  the  slave-holders,  who 
were  equally  willing  to  have  this  design  accom 
plished. 

But  new  inventions,  an  extension  of  territory, 
the  desire  for  tropical  luxuries,  and  a  demand 
for  home  markets  united  in  crushing  out  the 
general  abolition  sentiment  of  the  eighteenth 
century  that,  North  and  South,  had  been  born 
of  the  French  Revolution.  Individuals  in  the 
South,  however,  continued,  even  down  to  the  war 
between  the  sections,  to  encourage  emancipa 
tion,  either  by  voluntarily  manumitting  their 
slaves  by  deed  or  will  or  by  allowing  them  to  buy 
their  time;  nor  was  the  Liberia  scheme  without 
its  Southern  supporters,  though  as  to  the  latter, 
the  North  asserted  that  the  South  encouraged 
it  for  the  sole  purpose  of  ridding  the  land  of  the 
free  negroes.  On  the  other  hand,  there  was 
nothing  in  the  religious  or  moral  ideas  of  the 
Puritan  that  specially  predisposed  him  to  view 
the  institution  of  slavery  with  disfavor.  Be 
lieving  as  he  did  that  men  should  be  guided  in 
their  conduct  by  the  Scriptures,  not  by  the  spirit 
breathed  through  the  whole  but  by  the  precept 
of  each  individual  text,  he  quite  contentedly  fol 
lowed,  and  allowed  others  to  follow,  the  example 
of  the  Patriarchs.  The  Puritans  who  removed 


IN   THE   BEGINNING  19 

to  the  South  soon  became  slave-holders  them 
selves,  and  not  a  few  defended  the  institution 
from  the  Bible,  as  did  Southern  divines  at  a  later 
date. 

Public  opinion  in  the  North,  however,  where 
domestic  servitude  was  not  profitable,  grew  more 
and  more  opposed  to  the  institution,  especially 
after  the  discovery  that  slavery  and  the  tariff  were 
irreconcilable,  until  at  last  the  institution  was 
thefe  stigmatized  as  "  the  sum  of  all  villanies." 
A  corresponding  determination  to  maintain  the 
system  manifested  itself  in  the  South,  where  it 
was  looked  upon  as  being  essential  to  Southern 
economic  conditions.  The  people  of  the  one 
section  condemned  as  a  sin  an  act  which  they 
were  under  no  temptation  to  commit ;  the  people 
of  the  other  section  saw  a  dispensation  of  Provi 
dence  in  that  which  their  fancied  interest  predis 
posed  them  to  maintain.  Consequently,  all  the 
latent  antagonism  of  social  organization,  ideals, 
and  pursuits  which  existed  between  the  North 
and  the  South  was  stirred  into  lively  activity  by 
the  efforts  of  the  abolitionists.  In  the  long 
struggle  of  this  party  of  agitation  to  win  public 
opinion  to  their  cause,  was  evinced  in  wordy 
debate  all  that  bitterness  which  was  later  to  char 
acterize  the  fratricidal  war.  Misunderstanding, 
originally  arising  from  the  causes  mentioned, 
warped  and  distorted  the  view  which  the  people 
of  each  section  took  of  the  aims  of  the  other. 
All  the  virtue  and  honor  of  the  South  was  held 
as  naught  by  a  large  and  growing  party  that 


20  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

had  eyes  for  nothing  but  the  evil  of  African 
bondage,  while  those  to  whom  slavery  seemed 
an  economic  necessity  stubbornly  refused  to  rec 
ognize  any  honesty  of  purpose  in  the  North. 

Given  the  institution  of  slavery  as  the  bone  of 
contention  between  sections  already  predisposed 
to  jealousy  and  misunderstanding,  and  ultimate 
conflict  is  almost  inevitable.  With  the  introduc 
tion  of  the  slavery  question  into  Congress,  a  new 
school  of  statesmen  sprang  up.  In  the  North 
men  looked  to  the  future,  with  novel  conceptions 
of  national  life  and  power;  in  the  South  nearly 
every  eye  reverted,  almost  instinctively,  to  the 
past  and  scanned  with  eagerness  the  forgotten 
Articles  of  Confederation  with  their  reservations 
as  to  State  sovereignty.  Unfortunately,  there 
were  few,  either  at  the  North  or  at  the  South, 
who  understood  the  portent  of  the  situation. 
Perhaps  that  was  too  much  to  expect.  But  to 
the  average  Southern  mind,  "  our  people"  and 
"  our  country"  meant  one  thing;  to  the  average 
Northern  mind,  quite  another. 

Another  potential  dissimilarity  between  the 
two  sections  is  found  in  their  prevailing  eccle 
siastical  systems.  Congregationalism  in  New 
England,  with  all  its  Hebraistic  Eutopianism 
and  Blue  Laws,  fostered  a  theocracy  which  was 
in  reality  a  democracy.  The  church  in  the  South 
made  the  parish  the  unit  of  government.  The 
vestries  presiding  over  these  parishes  were,  in 
many  cases,  close  and  co-optative  corporations, 
which  had  no  small  effect  in  accustoming  the 


IN   THE   BEGINNING  21 

people  to  leave  public  matters  in  the  hands  of 
their  leaders. 

Southern  society  contained  in  its  constitution 
all  those  elements  which  tend  to  resist  change. 
Urban  centres  were  few  and  small,  while  the 
large  areas  of  the  States,  as  contrasted  with 
those  of  the  Northern  commonwealths,  was  a 
barrier  to  intercommunication.  Then,  too,  the 
North  was  progressive  in  its  opinions,  principles, 
and  organizations,  while  the  South  was  stub 
bornly  conservative.  Hence,  in  the  discussion  of 
every  national  question  which  involved  a  new 
departure,  there  arose  suspicion  and  misunder 
standing.  Tory  and  Whig  did  not  wish  to  agree. 

Moreover,  in  the  North  every  institution 
tended  to  excessive  individualism  and  to  the 
union  of  the  various  sections.  The  growth  of 
town  life  directed  towards  the  municipal  organ 
izations  those  local  attachments  which  at  the 
South,  in  the  absence  of  urban  centres,  went  to 
the  States. 

Everywhere  were  being  built  cities  which 
gathered  their  inhabitants  from  all  parts  of  the 
North.  The  different  sections  became  bound 
together  by  canals,  railroads,  and  telegraphs. 
Companies  for  banking  and  commercial  purposes 
drew  their  members  and  capital  from  all  direc 
tions,  indifferent  to  State  boundaries.  Manu 
facturing  and  trade  made  strongly  for  disinte 
gration.  Religious  and  educational  associations 
arose,  which  included  members  in  cities  and 
towns  far  asunder.  All  this  militated  against  an 


22  THE   TRUE   CIVIL  WAR 

exclusive  affection  for  the  individual  State,  but 
fostered  patriotism  in  a  wider  and  national  sense. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  North  have  always 
been  in  a  large  measure  a  floating  population 
and  one  of  varying  elements.  Side  by  side  with 
the  immense  influence  of  migration  stood  that 
of  immigration.  The  stream  of  foreign  immi 
gration  which  emptied  itself  almost  exclusively 
upon  the  shores  of  the  North  brought  an  ever- 
increasing  body  of  people  from  Great  Britain, 
Ireland,  Germany,  Scandinavia,  and  other  Euro 
pean  countries.  These  scattered  in  all  direc 
tions;  while  attached  to  the  government  of  the 
country  in  which  they  obtained  citizenship,  they 
naturally  could  not  hold  deep-rooted  predilec 
tion  for  any  one  State. 

Foreign  immigration  had  little  effect  on  the 
South;  in  fact,  it  was  scarcely  present,  being  ex 
cluded  and  rendered  almost  impossible  by  the 
presence  of  slavery.  In  view  of  these  patent 
facts,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  drift  towards  cen 
tralization,  which  early  gained  ground  at  the 
North,  was  first  largely  a  matter  of  indifference 
and  later  a  subject  of  stern  opposition  in  the 
South. 

Notwithstanding  the  final  ratification  of  the 
Federal  Constitution  by  the  Thirteen  States,  and 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  there  was  no  more 
opposition  to  its  acceptance  in  the  South  (save 
the  bitter  attack  led  by  Patrick  Henry)  than  in 
the  North,  the  exceptions  taken  by  the  delegates 
from  Maryland  to  the  Articles  of  Confederation 


IN   THE   BEGINNING  23 

of  1778  express  a  jealousy  of  national  preroga 
tive  which,  on  the  part  of  the  South,  was  never 
overcome,  and  which,  with  the  other  causes  we 
have  indicated,  brought  about  the  movement 
which  culminated  in  that  conflict  which  to  one 
side  was  a  war  between  the  States,  to  the  other  a 
rebellion. 


II 

THE    SLAVERY    PROBLEM 

THE  blight  of  negro  slavery  infected  the  South 
in  the  very  earliest  infancy  of  its  history.  In 
1619  a  ship,  engaged  in  the  Dutch  trade,  touched 
at  Jamestown  and  there  sold  a  few  negroes  to 
the  colonists.  This  traffic,  however,  did  not 
greatly  flourish  at  first,  for  in  1650 — or  thirty- 
one  years  after  their  first  introduction — only 
three  hundred  negroes  were  to  be  found  in  Vir 
ginia.  It  was  not  until  1663  that  the  institution 
began  to  take  a  firm  hold  in  Virginia.  At  that 
date  a  sharp  impetus  was  given  to  the  traffic  by 
the  formation,  in  England,  of  a  company  for  the 
special  purpose  of  importing  slaves ;  a  head-right 
or  bonus  being  awarded  the  colonists  who  im 
ported  negroes,  the  traffic  grew  apace.  The 
Royal  African  Company,  at  the  head  of  which 
was  the  Duke  of  York,  had  the  monopoly  of  this 
business;  it  increased  its  profits  and  forced 
slavery  on  the  colony  by  the  enactment  of  laws 
which  cut  off  the  supply  of  indentured  servants. 
Down  to  a  late  date,  however,  the  people  of  Vir 
ginia  looked  upon  slavery  as  an  evil  which  they 
had  been  compelled  to  accept  and  of  which  they 
would  gladly  be  rid. 

In   South   Carolina,  natural   conditions   made 

slave  labor  more  acceptable.    The  rice-plant  was 
24 


THE   SLAVERY   PROBLEM  25 

early  brought  from  Madagascar.  For  it  and  for 
indigo,  also,  the  soil  of  South  Carolina  was  found 
to  be  eminently  suitable;  but  the  cultivation  of 
these  products  was  attended  by  conditions  disas 
trous  to  the  health  of  white  people,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  there  was  little  chance  for  the  planters 
unless  they  could  procure  Africans,  who  were 
better  suited  to  the  work.  In  one  year  a  slave 
could  produce  enough  rice  and  indigo  to  defray 
his  whole  cost.  It  was  impossible  for  the  not 
overactive  principles  of  humanity  then  existing 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  such  attractive  prospects 
of  gain. 

The  condition  of  the  slaves  employed  in  this 
labor  was  one  of  extreme  degradation.  The  only 
indication  that  their  owners  regarded  them  as 
being  in  the  least  degree  removed  from  the 
nature  of  beasts  is  found  in  the  severe  laws  en 
acted  to  prevent  an  uprising.  Many  of  these 
enactments,  however,  were  less  bloody  than  they 
now  seem,  and  were  made  either  to  terrorize  the 
newly  arrived  savage  Africans  or  to  ward  off 
the  influence  of  the  West  Indian  blacks — ever  a 
source  of  dread  in  the  far  South.  Whipping  was 
the  universal  punishment  for  bondmen,  white  or 
black.  Mutilation  was  the  next  step  in  severity. 
Death  was  the  statutory  punishment  in  the  South 
for  the  majority  of  crimes  committed  by  negroes, 
though  deportation  was  greatly  favored;  hang 
ing  was  the  common  form  of  execution,  and  we 
have  record  of  negroes  having  been  burned  at 
the  stake — in  the  North.  There  was  no  legal 


26  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

recognition  of  any  binding  form  of  marriage 
among  slaves,  and  in  consequence  sexual  rela 
tions  were  extremely  promiscuous.  But  custom 
was  softer  than  the  positive  law,  and  in  course 
of  time  slaves  were  encouraged  to  go  through 
the  marriage  ceremony  before  a  minister. 

An  endeavor  was  made  to  establish  and  main 
tain  Georgia  as  a  free  colony.  Oglethorpe,  who 
founded  it  in  1773,  was  in  so  doing  largely  moved 
by  his  desire  to  provide  the  large  number  of  debt 
ors  who  languished  in  the  London  prisons  an 
opportunity  to  make  a  new  start  under  improved 
conditions.  Consistency  demanded  that,  with 
such  an  origin,  the  colony  should  contain  none 
but  free  inhabitants.  Its  founder  maintained 
that  slavery  was  contrary  to  both  the  Gospel  and 
the  fundamental  law  of  England.  "  We  refused," 
said  he,  "  as  trustees,  to  make  a  law  permitting 
such  a  horrid  crime."  Besides  this,  Oglethorpe 
clearly  saw  the  effect  that  slavery  would  have 
on  the  poor  white  laborer ;  his  purpose  in  found 
ing  the  colony  was  not  to  provide  the  affluent 
an  opportunity  profitably  to  invest  their  wealth, 
but  to  give  the  unfortunate  a  chance  to  redeem 
their  fortunes.  But  these  humane  provisions 
were  not  for  long  regarded.  At  the  first,  the 
planters  hired  slaves  from  the  South  Carolinians ; 
and  within  seven  years  from  Oglethorpe's  first 
landing,  cargoes  of  negroes  captured  in  Africa 
were  being  unloaded  at  Savannah. 

During  its  early  history  Georgia  was  for  a  time 
the  scene  of  the  labors  of  Whitefield,  the  great 


THE   SLAVERY   PROBLEM  27 

Methodist  preacher,  who  founded  an  orphan- 
house  at  Savannah.  It  is  interesting,  as  illus 
trating  how  the  slave  traffic  was  viewed  by  the 
most  religious  men  of  that  time  in  respect  to  its 
morality,  to  note  the  position  which  Whitefield 
took  in  the  matter.  In  a  letter  written  in  1751 
he  expresses  himself  as  having  no  doubt  as  to  the 
lawfulness  of  keeping  slaves;  and  he  states  the 
opinion  that  Georgia  would  have  been  much 
more  prosperous  if  the  use  of  them  had  been 
earlier  permitted.  At  the  same  time,  he  was 
careful  to  indicate  how  gain  and  godliness,  profit 
and  piety,  might  be  combined : 

"  Though  it  is  true  they  are  brought  in  a  wrong  way 
from  their  own  country,  and  it  is  a  trade  not  to  be  ap 
proved  of,  yet  as  it  will  be  carried  on  whether  we  will  or 
not,  I  should  think  myself  highly  favored  if  I  could  pur 
chase  a  good  number  of  them  in  order  to  make  their  lives 
comfortable,  and  lay  a  foundation  for  breeding  up  their 
posterity  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord.  I 
had  no  hand  in  bringing  them  into  Georgia,  though  my 
judgment  was  for  it." 

At  the  time  of  his  death  this  famous  divine 
owned  seventy-five  slaves,  whom  he  bequeathed 
to  a  lady  who  was  also  a  religious  zealot  of  his 
own  type. 

Whitefield  as  a  slave-owner  was  not  excep 
tional  among  clergymen.  Even  Jonathan  Ed 
wards  owned  slaves,  as  a  bill  of  sale  still  in  exist 
ence  plainly  shows.  In  the  North  as  well  as  in 
the  South  slaves  were  held  by  the  clergy. 

Traffic  in  human  beings  was  attended  by  no 


28  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

compunctions  of  the  Puritan  conscience.  As 
with  the  South,  so  the  records  of  slavery  in  Mas 
sachusetts  begin  with  its  earliest  history.  The 
first  statute  establishing  slavery  in  America  is 
to  be  found  in  the  famous  Code  of  Funda 
mentals,  or  Body  of  Liberties  of  the  Massachu 
setts  Colony  in  New  England, — the  first  code  of 
laws  of  that  colony,  adopted  in  December,  1641. 
The  first  persons  held  in  bondage  were  Indians 
captured  in  the  Pequot  war  of  1637.  But  in 
order  that  these  might  not  be  a  menace  to  their 
captors,  the  men  were  sold  in  the  Bermudas, 
while  the  women  were  distributed  as  domestic 
servants  in  the  towns  around  .the  bay.  This 
treatment  was  in  many  cases  attended  by  great 
sorrow  to  the  unhappy  captives.  In  earliest  New 
England  we  find  no  regard  for  the  preservation 
of  the  integrity  of  the  slave  family.  In  the  eigh 
teenth  century  even  the  parting,  by  sale,  of  par 
ents  and  children  or  of  husband  and  wife,  a  pro 
ceeding  which  was  to  be  held  in  the  bitterest 
reproach  by  the  North  when  it  was  practised 
in  the  South  in  the  nineteenth  century,  did  not 
attract  appreciable  disapprobation. 

The  giving  away  of  little  negroes  as  soon  as 
weaned  was  then  a  common  civility,  much  as  it 
now  is  for  one  to  present  a  friend  with  a  puppy. 
Little  regard  was  paid  to  any  natural  affection  a 
black  mother  might  be  supposed  to  cherish  for 
her  offspring.  "  A  likely  negro  woman  about 
nineteen  years,  and  a  child  of  about  sixteen 
months,  to  be  sold  together  or  apart," — this  is  an 


THE   SLAVERY   PROBLEM  29 

example  of  the  sort  of  advertisement  frequently 
seen  in  Boston  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  destruction  of  home  ties  by  the  removal 
of  slaves  to  new  sections  of  the  country,  where 
they  were  friendless,  was  later  to  be  a  matter  of 
reprobation  when  the  antislavery  agitation  was 
on;  but  in  this  New  England  again  led.  No 
words  can  describe  this  practice  so  well  as  those 
of  Edward  Everett  at  Bloody  Brook,  in  1835, 
when  he  speaks  of  the  treatment  of  the  family  of 
Philip,  the  great  Pequot  chief: 

"  And  what  was  the  fate  of  Philip's  wife  and  his  son  ? 
This  is  a  tale  for  husbands  and  wives,  for  parents  and 
children.  Young  men  and  women,  you  cannot  understand 
it.  What  was  the  fate  of  Philip's  wife  and  child?  She  is 
a  woman,  he  is  a  lad.  They  did  not  surely  hang  them. 
No,  that  would  have  been  mercy.  The  boy  is  the  grandson, 
his  mother  the  daughter-in-law,  of  good  old  Massasoit,  the 
first  and  best  friend  the  English  ever  had  in  New  England. 
Perhaps — perhaps,  now  Philip  is  slain,  and  his  warriors 
scattered  to  the  four  winds,  they  will  allow  his  wife  and 
son  to  go  back — the  widow  and  the  orphan — to  finish  their 
days  and  sorrows  in  their  native  wilderness.  They  are 
sold  into  slavery,  West  Indian  slavery!  an  Indian  princess 
and  her  child,  sold  from  the  cool  breezes  of  Mount  Hope, 
from  the  wild  freedom  of  a  New  England  forest,  to  gasp 
under  the  lash,  beneath  the  blazing  sun  of  the  tropics! 
'  Bitter  as  death ;'  aye,  bitter  as  hell !  Is  there  anything — 
I  do  not  say  in  the  range  of  humanity — is  there  anything 
animated  that  would  not  struggle  against  this?" 

The  enslavement  of  the  Pequots  led  to  the 
establishment  of  a  slave-trade  among  the  North 
ern  colonies,  and  the  "  Desire,"  one  of  the  very 
first  vessels  built  in  Massachusetts,  was  fitted  out 
for  the  carrying  on  of  that  traffic.  This  enter- 


30  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

prise  was,  in  its  first  stages,  a  public  matter. 
The  colony  was  the  principal  in  the  business,  and 
individuals  received  strong  hints  that  private  in 
terests  were  for  the  present  to  keep  out  of  the 
traffic.  However,  the  profits  promised  to  be  so 
large  and  the  demand  for  slaves  in  foreign  parts 
so  constant  and  increasing  that  private  ventures 
began  in  the  earliest  days  of  New  England's 
commerce.  Ships  took  cargoes  of  colonial  prod 
ucts  across  the  Atlantic;  and  then,  touching  at 
African  ports,  they  procured  a  load  of  slaves  for 
the  homeward  run.  These  negroes  were  at  first 
sold  in  the  Barbadoes  and  other  West  Indian 
islands,  but  the  trade  finally  included  the  Amer 
ican  coast  ports.  The  traffic  became  so  popular 
that  great  attention  was  paid  to  it  by  the  New 
England  ship-owners,  and  they  practically  mo 
nopolized  it  for  many  years.  New  York,  how 
ever,  was  not  to  be  outdone  by  her  Eastern 
rival,  and  her  port  became  a  centre  of  the  slave- 
trade. 

To  the  great  discredit  of  the  Puritans,  it  must 
be  admitted  that  treacherous  means  were  some 
times  resorted  to  in  order  to  maintain  the  supply 
of  this  kind  of  merchandise.  It  is  on  record  that 
on  one  occasion  one  hundred  and  fifty  Indians 
were  enticed  into  Plymouth  by  a  show  of  friend 
liness,  and  were  then  sold  out  of  the  country  by 
the  authorities.  The  women,  however,  were 
usually  retained  as  especially  acceptable  prizes 
bestowed  by  a  Providence  having  a  peculiar  re 
gard  for  the  Puritans.  Captain  Stoughton,  who 


THE   SLAVERY   PROBLEM  31 

led  in  the  Pequot  war  above  mentioned,  wrote 
to  Governor  Winthrop  : 

"  By  this  pinnace  you  shall  receive  forty-eight  or  fifty 
women  and  children  .  .  .  concerning  which  there  is  one  I 
formerly  mentioned,  that  is  the  fairest  and  largest  I  saw 
among  them,  to  whom  I  gave  a  coat  to  clothe  her.  It  is 
my  desire  to  have  her  for  a  servant,  if  it  may  stand  with 
your  good  liking,  else  not.  There  is  a  little  squaw  that 
Stewart  Culacut  desireth,  to  whom  he  hath  given  a  coat. 
Lieut.  Davenport  also  desireth  one,  to  wit,  a  small  one, 
that  hath  three  strokes  upon  her  stomach,  thus: —  |  |  |  + 
He  desireth  her,  if  it  will  stand  with  your  liking.  Solomon, 
the  Indian,  desireth  a  young  little  squaw,  which  I  know 
not." 


The  Indians  were  usually,  however,  exchanged 
for  negroes,  called  by  the  colonists  "  Moors/'  the 
character  of  the  natives  being  such  that  they 
were  of  more  value  elsewhere  than  in  their  own 
country.  The  above-mentioned  governor  re 
ceived  a  letter  from  his  brother-in-law,  Downing, 
in  which  the  latter,  speaking  of  the  Narragan- 
setts,  with  which  tribe  the  colonists  were  having 
trouble,  says : 

"  If,  upon  a  just  war,  the  Lord  should  deliver  them  into 
our  hands,  we  might  easily  have  men,  women,  and  children 
enough  to  exchange  for  Moors,  which  will  be  more  gainful 
pillage  for  us  than  we  can  conceive,  for  I  do  not  see  how 
we  can  thrive  until  we  get  in  a  stock  of  slaves  sufficient  to 
do  all  our  business ;  for  our  children's  children  will  hardly 
see  this  great  continent  rilled  with  people,  so  that  our 
servants  will  still  desire  freedom  to  plant  for  themselves, 
and  not  stay  but  for  very  great  wages.  And  I  suppose  you 
know  very  well  how  we  shall  maintain  twenty  Moors 
cheaper  than  one  English  servant," 


32  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

But  negro  slavery  never  took  a  very  deep  hold 
in  Massachusetts.  For  a  century  after  the  settle 
ment,  the  number  of  slaves  increased  very  slowly, 
and  it  is  probable  that  the  largest  number  at 
any  time  in  the  colony  never  greatly  exceeded 
six  thousand.  They  were  used  almost  entirely 
as  domestic  servants.  Their  condition  was  re 
garded  with  the  same  apathy  as  in  the  Southern 
colonies.  The  increasing  of  their  number  by 
procreation  was  in  the  first  years  of  the  colony 
regarded  with  favor,  and  not  a  few  persons 
strove  to  rear  slaves.  We  have  a  curious  record 
of  this  in  Josselyn's  account  of  two  voyages  to 
New  England.  He  tells  us  that  Samuel  Mave 
rick,  one  of  the  principal  colonists,  possessed  a 
very  superior  negress  who  refused  to  be  mated 
with  any  of  the  blacks  of  her  owner.  Maverick, 
however,  was  a  stubborn  man,  and  became  pos 
sessed  of  the  idea  that  the  progeny  of  such  a  fine 
wench  would  be  of  much  value  to  him.  He  there 
fore  attempted  that  of  which  no  Southern  slave 
owner  has  been  accused :  seeing  she  would  not 
yield  by  persuasions  to  company  with  a  young 
negro  man  he  had  in  the  house,  he  commanded 
him,  willed  she  nilled  she,  to  go  to  her  bed,  which 
was  no  sooner  done  than  by  a  fierce  struggle  she 
ejected  the  intruder.  Her  grief  was  so  great  as 
to  lead  her  to  recount  what  she  regarded  as  her 
wrongs  to  Josselyn,  who  was  at  the  time  visiting 
Maverick. 

The  breeding  of  slaves  ceased  in  New  Eng 
land,  but  not  because  of  religious  or  humanita- 


THE   SLAVERY   PROBLEM  33 

rian  scruples.  It  was  cheaper  to  buy  than  to 
rear.  White  bondmen  of  almost  the  same  status 
as  slaves,  and  red  and  black  adult  slaves,  were 
abundant  and  cheap.  Therefore  the  increasing 
of  the  slave  population  by  natural  means  was  not 
looked  upon  with  favor,  for  childbearing  inter 
fered  with  service  and  the  rearing  of  children 
was  accompanied  by  an  expense  that  brought 
no  adequate  return.  In  1680  Bradstreet  wrote: 
"  There  are  very  few  blacks  born  here,  not  above 
five  or  six  in  a  year  at  most;  none  are  baptized 
that  I  ever  heard  of."  The  ordinary  practice 
was  to  sell  a  slave  who  was  pregnant  and  to 
dispose  of  the  offspring  either  before  or  imme 
diately  after  its  birth.  Two  advertisements  are 
interesting  in  this  connection ;  the  first  was  pub 
lished  in  the  Continental  Journal,  March  i,  1781, 
and  reads : 

"  To  be  Sold,  an  extraordinary  likely  Negro  Wench,  17 
years  old,  she  can  be  warranted  to  be  strong,  healthy  and 
good-natured,  has  no  notion  of  Freedom,  has  been  always 
used  to  a  Farmer's  Kitchen  and  dairy,  and  is  not  known  to 
have  any  failing,  but  being  with  Child,  which  is  the  only 
cause  of  her  being  sold." 

The  second  was  printed  in  the  Independent 
Chronicle  on  December  14,  21,  and  28,  1780,  and 
is  a  curious  example  of  the  reluctance  of  New 
Englanders  to  rear  slaves : 

"  A  Negro  Child,  soon  expected,  of  a  good  breed,  may 
be  owned  by  any  Person  inclining  to  take  it,  and  Money 
with  it." 


34  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

Active  opposition  to  slavery  originated  not  in 
the  conscience  of  the  Puritan,  nor  yet  in  that  of 
the  Cavalier,  but  among  the  Quakers  whom  both 
so  cruelly  persecuted.  In  1688  some  of  the  fol 
lowers  of  William  Penn,  who  were  settled  in 
Pennsylvania,  declared  that  buying,  selling,  and 
holding  men  in  slavery  were  inconsistent  with  the 
principles  of  the  Christian  religion. 

It  was  not  until  1766,  however,  that  an  effec 
tive  movement  against  slavery  was  fairly 
launched.  By  this  time,  another  spirit  had  begun 
to  gain  a  foothold  in  the  North.  From  1767 
until  1774,  representatives  in  the  Massachusetts 
Assembly,  instructed  by  their  constituents, 
brought  in  bills  "  for  the  total  abolishing  of 
slavery  among  us."  But  these  measures  suc 
cessively  failed  to  obtain  the  governor's  ap 
proval.  It  was  to  the  interest  of  England  to 
promote  the  slave-trade  and  slavery.  No  clause 
in  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  was  more  jealously 
guarded  than  that  which  gave  her  the  exclusive 
right  of  selling  Africans  in  the  Spanish  West 
Indies  and  on  the  coast  of  America.  In  view  of 
the  policy  which  England  has  always  consistently 
followed  when  her  commercial  interests  have 
been  in  question,  it  is  not  surprising  that  her 
governors  in  these  colonies  should  frown  upon 
legislation  so  entirely  derogatory  to  those  inter 
ests,  "  or  that  the  modest  efforts  of  Massachu 
setts,  in  1744,  should  be  met  by  Hutchinson  and 
Gage  with  the  same  spirit  which  in  1775  dictated 
the  reply  of  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth  to  the  earnest 


THE   SLAVERY   PROBLEM  35 

remonstrance  of  the  agent  of  Jamaica  against 
the  policy  of  the  government :  '  We  cannot  allow 
the  colonies  to  check  or  discourage  in  any 
manner  a  traffic  so  beneficial  to  the  nation/  ' 

When,  in  1776,  the  government  of  Massachu 
setts  had  been  reorganized  in  accordance  with 
the  advice  of  the  Continental  Congress,  it  made, 
in  theory,  short  work  of  the  question  of  slavery. 
Some  negroes  had  been  taken  in  an  English  ship 
and  were  brought  into  Salem  to  be  sold.  This 
was  prevented  by  the  General  Court,  and  the 
House  passed  a  resolution  that :  "  The  selling 
and  enslaving  the  human  species  is  a  direct  viola 
tion  of  the  natural  rights  alike  vested  in  them 
by  their  Creator,  and  utterly  inconsistent  with 
the  avowed  principles  on  which  this  and  the 
other  States  have  carried  on  their  struggle  for 
liberty."  But  this  resolution  accomplished  little, 
for  the  sentiment  of  the  community  was  divided ; 
the  majority  of  the  people  were  not  as  yet  of  the 
opinion  that  slavery  was  wrong.  Traffic  in  slaves 
continued,  and  even  in  1780  the  newspapers  of 
New  England  contained  many  advertisements 
like  the  following: 

"  To  be  Sold,  very  Cheap,  for  no  other  Reason  than  for 
want  of  Employ,  an  exceeding  Active  Negro  boy,  aged 
fifteen.  Also,  a  likely  Negro  Girl,  aged  seventeen." 

"  To  be  sold  a  likely  Negro  girl,  16  years  of  Age,  for  no 
fault,  but  want  of  employ." 

"  To  be  Sold,  a  likely  Negro  Boy,  about  13  years  old, 
well  calculated  to  wait  on  a  Gentleman.  Inquire  of  the 
Printer." 


36  THE   TRUE   CIVIL  WAR 

"  To  be  Sold,  a  likely  young  Cow  and  Calf.  Inquire  of 
the  Printer." 

"  To  be  Sold,  for  want  of  employment,  an  exceeding 
likely  Negro  Girl,  aged  fifteen." 

"  To  be  Sold,  a  likely  Negro  Boy,  about  eighteen  years 
of  Age,  fit  for  to  serve  a  Gentleman,  to  tend  horses  or  to 
work  in  the  Country." 

The  sentiment  against  slavery  was,  however, 
on  the  increase.  The  principles  of  liberty,  which 
for  two  decades  had  been  sedulously  preached 
by  the  revolutionists,  were  extended  by  a  certain 
portion  of  the  community  to  cover  the  blacks  in 
bondage.  The  idea  of  abolition  began  to  grow. 
Resting  solely  upon  a  humanitarian  base,  it 
might  not  have  endured;  but  sentiment  was  re 
inforced  by  economic  conditions.  It  had  been 
proved  beyond  question  that  slavery  was  un 
profitable  in  New  England,  and,  further,  that  free 
negroes  were  a  "  dead-weight"  to  the  community 
and  a  clog  to  free  white  labor. 

A  section  of  the  early  antislavery  party  ex 
hibited,  in  1780,  positive  antagonism  to  the  very 
presence  of  the  blacks,  and  by  an  act  of  March 
26,  1788,  all  negroes  resident  in  Massachusetts 
and  not  citizens  of  some  one  of  the  United  States 
were  ordered  to  depart  under  penalty  of  whip 
ping. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  slavery  was  the  source 
of  large  and  constant  profit  to  those  buying,  sell 
ing,  or  carrying  negroes.  These  persons,  backed 
by  those  to  whom  slavery  was  a  patriarchal  insti- 


THE   SLAVERY   PROBLEM  37 

tution  to  be  cherished,  or  a  matter  concerning 
the  internal  polity  of  a  sister  State  and  not  to  be 
interfered  with,  continued  in  power  until  the 
period  just  anterior  to  the  Civil  War,  though 
slavery  in  New  England  practically  ceased  early 
in  the  century. 

The  antislavery  party,  however,  secured,  with 
out  opposition,  in  the  constitution  of  1780  a 
clause  which  read :  "  All  men  are  born  free  and 
equal,  and  have  certain  natural,  essential,  and  un- 
alienable  rights."  In  the  following  year  the  Su 
preme  Court  construed  this  as  rendering  the 
condition  of  slavery  impossible  in  the  Common 
wealth.  Yet  it  can  be  held  to  have  done  so  only 
by  implication,  and  in  not  a  few  cases  the  impli 
cation  was  not  regarded.  In  fact,  though  actu 
ally  prohibited,  slavery  in  strict  legality  was  not 
formally  abolished  in  Massachusetts  until  1866, 
when  it  was  ended  throughout  the  United  States 
by  the  Xlllth  Amendment.  It  is  a  curious  fact 
that  the  legal  termination  of  slavery  in  Massa 
chusetts  was  accomplished  by  the  votes  of  Geor 
gia  and  South  Carolina,  those  States  towards 
which  the  abolitionists  had  been  most  bitter. 

In  Rhode  Island  emancipation  took  place  in 
1773.  Slavery  in  New  Hampshire  died  a  natural 
death,  all  negroes,  born  after  the  constitution  of 
1776  was  adopted  being  considered  free.  Those 
of  Connecticut  were  freed  in  1784;  that  is  to 
say,  the  Legislature  then  passed  an  act  declaring 
that  all  persons  born  of  slaves  after  the  ist  of 
March  in  that  year  should  be  free  at  the  age 


38  THE   TRUE   CIVIL  WAR 

of  twenty-five.  In  1799  New  York  also  passed 
a  law  for  the  gradual  emancipation  of  the  slaves 
within  her  territory,  the  number  of  whom  at  that 
time  was  approximately  twenty-two  thousand. 
Vermont,  by  her  constitution  of  1793,  pro 
hibited  the  institution.  In  like  manner,  it  soon 
disappeared  from  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania, 
while  the  Ordinance  of  1787  excluded  it  from 
the  Northwest  Territory.  At  the  same  date, 
however,  the  Federal  government  recognized  it 
in  the  nascent  State  of  Tennessee,  and,  also, 
it  gained  a  foothold  in  Kentucky  by  a  constitu 
tional  provision  of  that  State.  Thus  did  the  in 
stitution  cross  the  Alleghanies,  to  become,  later 
on,  a  fresh  bone  of  contention  when  the  trans- 
Mississippi  region  was  thrown  open  to  settlers. 

One  of  the  various  causes  that  operated  to 
expel  negro  slavery  from  the  North  was  the 
readiness  with  which  white  servants  were  bought 
and  sold.  These  were  either  the  so-called  re- 
demptioners,  or  apprentices, — "  those  bound  for 
a  term  of  years,"  as  the  Federal  Constitution 
styled  them.  The  former  came  over  originally 
as  indentured  servants;  the  latter  were  either 
minors  who  wished  to  learn  a  trade,  or  children 
whose  parents  were  dead  or  unable  to  support 
them.  Similar  classes  were  found  in  the  South 
also,  but,  owing  to  the  solidarity  of  the  Caucasian 
race  and  the  ease  with  which  slaves  could  be  pur 
chased,  they  grew  less  and  less  frequent.  In  the 
North,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  the  indentured 
servants  were  not  only  subjected  to  many  of 


THE   SLAVERY   PROBLEM  39 

the  restraints  imposed  by  Southern  owners  on 
their  black  slaves,  but  it  was  no  uncommon 
thing  to  find  the  unexpired  terms  of  such  persons 
advertised  for  sale.  The  Pennsylvania  Gazette 
for  August  21,  1755,  for  example,  contains  an 
advertisement  of  the  sale  of  "  a  white  lad  and  a 
negro  woman ;"  it  was  added  that  "  the  man 
writes  a  good  hand  and  is  very  good  at  ac 
counts." 

The  world  has  never  known  a  more  powerful 
advocate  of  universal  freedom  than  was  Thomas 
Jefferson.  The  earnest  effort  which  he  put  forth 
to  have  a  denunciation  of  slavery  incorporated 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  is  a  well- 
known  matter  of  history.  In  the  first  draft  which 
he  wrote  of  this  famous  document,  referring  to 
George  III.,  he  accused  him  of  being 

"  determined  to  keep  open  a  market  where  men  should  be 
bought  and  sold,  he  has  prostituted  his  negative  for  sup 
pressing  every  legislative  attempt  to  prohibit  or  restrain 
this  execrable  commerce.  And  that  this  assemblage  of 
horrors  might  want  no  fact  of  distinguished  dye,  he  is  now 
exciting  those  very  people  to  rise  in  arms  against  us,  and 
purchase  that  liberty  of  which  he  has  deprived  them  by 
murdering  the  people  on  whom  he  has  obtruded  them, 
thus  paying  off  former  crimes  committed  against  the  liber 
ties  of  one  people  with  crimes  which  he  urges  them  to 
commit  against  the  lives  of  another." 

This  ardent  denunciation  of  a  system  so  hate 
ful  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  sense  of  justice,  though  it 
was  concurred  in  by  all  the  best  men  of  Virginia, 
including  Washington,  Randolph,  Madison, 
Henry,  and  Mason,  was  struck  out  from  the  final 


40  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

draft  of  the  Declaration,  in  deference  to  the 
wishes  of  many  in  the  South  and  not  a  few  in 
the  North.  Regarding  this  omission,  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  says : 

"  The  clause,  too,  reprobating  the  enslaving  the  inhabi 
tants  of  Africa  was  struck  out  in  complaisance  to  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia,  who  had  never  attempted  to  restrain 
the  importation  of  slaves,  and  who,  on  the  contrary,  still 
wished  to  continue  it.  Our  Northern  brethren  also,  I 
believe,  felt  a  little  tender  under  those  censures;  for, 
though  their  people  had  very  few  slaves  themselves,  yet 
they  had  been  pretty  considerable  carriers  of  them  to 
others." 

It  is  interesting  to  note,  in  view  of  later 
history,  the  arguments  advanced  in  favor  of 
slavery  by  Northern  leaders  when  the  aid  of  the 
South  was  needed  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 
For  example,  when,  on  Friday,  July  12,  1776,  the 
Congressional  Committee  appointed  to  draft 
the  Articles  of  Confederation  made  its  report,  a 
debate  followed  regarding  the  manner  of  voting 
and  the  amount  each  State  ought  to  contribute 
towards  the  common  treasury.  In  the  course  of 
the  discussion,  John  Adams  remarked  "  that  as 
to  this  matter  it  was  of  no  consequence  by  what 
name  you  called  your  people,  whether  by  that 
of  freemen  or  of  slaves.  That  in  some  countries 
the  laboring  poor  were  called  freemen,  in  others 
they  were  called  slaves;  but  that  the  difference 
to  the  State  was  imaginary  only."  Adams  then 
went  on  to  ask : 

"  What    matters    it    whether    a    landlord    employing    ten 
laborers  on  his  farm  gives  them  annually  as  much  money 


THE   SLAVERY   PROBLEM  41 

as  will  buy  them  the  necessaries  of  life,  or  gives  them 
those  necessaries  at  short  hand?  The  ten  laborers  add  as 
much  wealth  annually  to  the  State,  increase  its  exports 
as  much  in  the  one  case  as  the  other.  .  .  .  Suppose,  by  an 
extraordinary  operation  of  nature  or  of  law,  one-half  the 
laborers  of  a  State  could  in  the  course  of  one  night  be 
transformed  into  slaves, — would  the  State  be  made  the 
poorer  or  the  less  able  to  pay  taxes?" 

He  added  that  the  condition  of  the  laboring 
poor  in  most  countries — particularly  the  fisher 
men  of  the  North — was  as  abject  as  that  of 
slaves ! 

The  treatment  of  the  subject  of  slavery  by  the 
framers  of  the  Constitution  is  a  matter  very  per 
tinent  to  the  purpose  of  this  history.  At  that 
time  (1784)  Congress  lacked  but  one  vote  of 
precluding  those  disputes  which  afterwards  led 
to  the  Civil  War.  Jefferson  proposed  a  clause 
which  provided  for  the  interdiction  of  slavery,^ 
after  the  year  1800,  in  all  territory  west  of  the  < 
States  then  existing  and  above  the  parallel  of  31° 
north  latitude.  This  included  the  territory  which 
afterwards  formed  the  States  of  Kentucky,  Ala 
bama,  Mississippi,  Tennessee,  also  all  to  the 
northwest  of  these.  So  radical  an  antislavery 
clause  was  lost  by  one  vote ;  and  when  it  is  con 
sidered  how  all  the  great  national  disputes  arising 
from  the  admission  of  Territories  as  slave  States 
might  have  been  forefended  by  the  turning  of  so 
slight  a  balance,  it  seems  wonderful  that  an  All- 
wise  Providence,  that  is  supposed  to  watch  the 
destinies  of  nations,  did  not  intervene  to  ward  off 
such  a  cataclysm  as  resulted. 


42  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

In  1787  an  act  was  passed  which  differed  from 
the  above  in  that  it  took  effect  immediately  and 
prohibited  slavery  in  only  the  Northwestern 
Territory.  Four  of  the  Southern  States  were 
represented  in  the  convention  which  adopted 
this  ordinance,  and  every  one  of  their  delegates 
voted  for  it.  It  is  almost  certain  that  had  it 
not  been  for  the  adoption  of  this  ordinance, 
Illinois  and  Indiana  would  later  have  been  or 
ganized  as  slave  States.  Webster  said  of  this 
measure : 

"It  fixed  forever  the  character  of  the  population  in  the 
vast  regions  northwest  of  the  Ohio,  by  excluding  from 
them  involuntary  servitude.  It  impressed  on  the  soil  itself, 
while  yet  a  wilderness,  an  incapacity  to  sustain  any  other 
than  freemen.  It  laid  the  interdict  against  personal  servi 
tude,  in  original  compact,  not  only  deeper  than  all  local 
law,  but  deeper  also  than  all  local  constitutions." 

When  the  great  struggle  came  later,  it  gave  a 
preponderance  of  power  to  the  free  States. 

Curiously  enough,  the  Articles  of  Confedera 
tion  made  no  provision  for  the  return  of  slaves 
fleeing  from  one  State  to  another,  although  such 
a  clause  had  been  inserted  in  the  articles  of 
Union  between  the  New  England  Colonies,  made 
in  the  preceding  century.  As  slavery  rested  on 
local  customs,  the  owners  of  this  species  of  prop 
erty  could  rely,  in  the  absence  of  a  compact,  only 
on  the  courtesy  of  the  provinces  where  slavery 
was  non-existent.  This  had  been  observed  in 
early  days,  but  the  failure  of  the  Articles  of  Con 
federation  to  enforce  the  right,  added  to  the 


THE   SLAVERY   PROBLEM  43 

augmenting  spread  of  abolition  principles,  be 
came  a  source  of  irritation  between  the  Northern 
and  Southern  States. 

In  the  Federal  convention  of  1787  the  question 
was  thoroughly  discussed.  As  for  the  foreign 
slave-trade,  it  was  almost  unanimously  repro 
bated,  although  the  South  Carolina  and  Georgia 
members  declared  that  they  would  not  consent 
to  its  immediate  prohibition,  as  they  had  lost  a 
vast  number  of  negroes  during  the  war  and  they 
wished  time  in  which  to  lay  in  a  new  supply.  It 
must  be  said,  to  the  credit  of  the  South,  however, 
that  Virginia  was  the  first  State  North  or  South 
to  prohibit  the  slave-trade,  and  Georgia  was  the 
first  State  to  incorporate  a  prohibition  of  it  in 
her  constitution.  Meanwhile,  all  the  slave  States 
insisted  that,  in  view  of  the  altered  opinions  of 
the  North  in  respect  of  domestic  servitude,  some 
guarantee  ought  to  be  made  of  their  right  and 
title  of  ownership.  It  was  insisted  that  a  full 
recognition  of  this  right  was  indispensable  to 
this  form  of  property  and  vital  to  the  mainte 
nance  of  their  domestic  interests.  The  most  cur 
sory  reading  of  the  discussions  of  this  subject 
will  plainly  show  that  unless  some  provision  had 
been  made  for  the  surrender  of  slaves  fleeing  to 
the  non-slave-holding  States,  the  South  would 
not  have  entered  the  Union.  Finally,  there  was 
considerable  diversity  of  opinion  regarding  the 
representation  in  Congress.  The  outcome  of 
the  efforts  to  reconcile  the  opposing  interests 
and  views  of  the  two  sections  was  the  adoption 


44  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

of  three  great  compromises.     (Elliot's  Debates, 
vol.  iv.  98.) 

"  i.  The  States  desiring  to  continue  their  right  to  import 
African  slaves  were  to  enjoy  it,  if  they  saw  fit,  for  the 
space  of  twenty  years,  after  which  it  was  forever  to  cease. 

"  2.  Owners  of  slaves  were  to  have  the  right  to  recapture 
their  property  in  non-slave-holding  States. 

"3.  Three-fifths  of  the  slaves  were  to  be  represented  in 
Congress." 

Of  less  importance  than  these  three  compro 
mises  was  a  fourth, — namely,  that  there  was  to 
be  no  duty  on  exports.  As  the  South  depended 
largely  on  foreign  markets  for  her  products,  it 
was  thought  necessary  to  guard  against  hostile 
legislation;  but  it  became  necessary  to  concede 
the  right  on  the  part  of  the  new  national  govern 
ment  to  impose  duties  on  imports, — a  cause  of 
future  trouble  hardly  less  fatal  to  harmony  than 
was  slavery  itself.  Each  of  the  three  great  com 
pacts  in  regard  to  slavery  became,  in  turn,  a  pro 
lific  source  of  discord. 

Shortly  after  an  agreement  had  been  reached 
on  the  compromises  above  mentioned,  all  the 
States  had  enacted  laws  forbidding  the  importa 
tion  of  slaves.  But  South  Carolina  subsequently 
repealed  the  law  passed  by  her  to  that  effect, 
asserting  that,  owing  to  the  failure  of  the  Federal 
government  to  render  aid  in  the  matter,  it  was 
impossible  to  enforce  her  enactment.  Charles 
ton  harbor  was  soon  filled  with  vessels  bearing 
human  cargoes.  Smith,  of  South  Carolina,  in 
a  speech  delivered  in  the  United  States  Senate 


THE   SLAVERY   PROBLEM  45 

on  the  Missouri  Compromise,  estimated  that  dur 
ing  the  three  years  that  the  slave-trade  thus 
remained  open  more  than  two  hundred  slavers, 
carrying  upward  of  forty  thousand  Africans, 
entered  the  port  of  Charleston.  Only  two  thou 
sand  of  these  slaves,  however,  appear  to  have 
been  consigned  to  South  Carolina  planters,  while 
about  eight  thousand  were  intended  for  Bristol, 
Newport,  and  Providence  dealers;  seven  hun 
dred  and  fifty  for  Baltimore  parties;  and  about 
two  hundred  each  for  Hartford,  Boston,  and 
Philadelphia  persons.  Facts  like  these,  in  the 
language  of  Smith,  will  show  that  "  those  people 
who  most  deprecate  the  evils  of  slavery  and 
traffic  in  human  flesh,  when  a  profitable  market 
can  be  found,  can  sell  human  flesh  with  as  easy 
a  conscience  as  they  sell  other  articles!"  He 
then  reminded  the  Senate  that  one  of  the  mem 
bers  from  Rhode  Island,  De  Wolf,  had  made  his 
fortune  in  the  slave-trade. 

Meanwhile,  the  whole  civilized  world  was  be 
ginning  to  cry  out  against  the  slave-trade,  whose 
greatest  blow  was  received  by  the  declaration  of 
the  Powers  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna.  This  was 
followed  by  an  Act  of  Congress  declaring  guilty 
of  piracy  those  caught  taking  part  in  the  traffic. 
Very  soon  afterwards  South  America  and  the 
West  Indies  abandoned  the  trade.  But,  as 
mighv  have  been  expected,  the  three-fifths  clause 
of  the  Federal  Constitution  was  a  constant  temp 
tation  to  import  African  slaves.  With  the  acqui 
sition  of  Texas  and  the  Pacific  section,  there  was 


46  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

a  growing  demand  for  a  revival  of  the  trade  in 
order  to  populate  new  Territories  and  preserve 
the  influence  of  the  South  in  Congress,  and,  not 
withstanding  the  vigilance  of  the  governments 
of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  a  brisk 
trade  in  African  slaves  continued  to  be  carried 
on,  and  numbers  were  smuggled  into  this  coun 
try  and  the  West  Indies,  down  to  the  outbreak 
of  the  Civil  War.  According  to  New  York  news 
papers,  there  were  fitted  out  in  that  port,  during 
the  years  1859  and  1860,  as  many  as  eighty-five 
slavers,  which  imported  from  thirty  thousand  to 
sixty  thousand  blacks  annually.  All  proposals 
formally  to  reopen  the  commerce  were  silenced, 
however,  by  the  storm  of  1860.  (See  Lalor's 
Cyclo.  of  Pol.  Sci.,  article  Slavery.) 

Regarding  the  third  compromise — that  which 
may  be  designated  the  suffrage  clause — much 
has  already  been  said.  It  may  be  added,  how 
ever,  that,  as  the  North  grew  in  wealth  and 
population,  it  became  more  and  more  dissatisfied 
with  an  arrangement  which  gave  to  the  South  a 
larger  representation  than  the  free  population 
warranted.  This  dissatisfaction  reached  an  acute 
stage  in  the  struggle  over  the  division  of  the 
Western  territory.  The  South  claimed — and 
with  reason — that  her  soldiery  had  won  Texas 
and  the  Pacific  slope ;  that  her  citizens  were  im 
pelled  to  move  westward  by  the  same  causes 
that  influenced  Northern  people  in  their  migra 
tions;  that  slaves  represented  property,  and 
that,  in  respect  to  the  removal  of  property  from 


THE   SLAVERY   PROBLEM  47 

one  part  of  the  country  to  another,  all  citizens 
stood  on  an  equal  footing.  The  North  main 
tained,  on  the  other  hand,  that  slavery  was  local, 
that  it  possessed  a  political  significance,  and  that 
it  should  not  be  extended  beyond  its  existing 
limits.  Nor  can  it  be  gainsaid  that  the  vast  ma 
jority  of  Northern  people,  aside  from  the  nar 
rower  and  more  fanatical  section  of  abolitionists, 
were  sincere  in  their  declaration  that  it  was  not 
their  intention  to  interfere  with  the  "  peculiar 
institution"  where  it  existed.  But  such  an  ideal 
state  of  things  was  impossible.  The  day  of  com 
promise  was  a  thing  of  the  past. 

Finally,  we  come  to  the  fugitive  slave  clause 
of  the  Constitution.  This  provision  is  to  be 
traced  to  the  Confederacy,  in  which  Massachu 
setts  was  the  ruling  colony.  The  Commissioners 
of  the  United  Colonies  found  occasion  to  com 
plain  to  the  Dutch  governor  in  New  Netherlands, 
in  1646,  of  the  fact  that  the  Dutch  agent  at  Hart 
ford  had  harbored  a  fugitive  Indian  woman-slave, 
of  whom  they  said,  in  their  letter,  "  Such  a  ser 
vant  is  parte  of  her  master's  estate,  and  a  more 
considerable  parte  than  a  beast."  A  provision 
for  the  rendition  of  fugitives,  etc.,  was  after 
wards  made  by  treaty  between  the  Dutch  and 
the  English.  (Plymouth  Colony  Records,  ix.  6, 
64,  190.) 

As  this  compromise  did  more  than  anything 
else  to  widen  the  chasm  between  the  rival  sec 
tions,  it  may  be  well  to  quote  it.  The  language 
is  plain : 


48  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

"  No  person  held  to  service  or  labour  in  one  State,  under 
the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall  in  consequence 
of  any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such 
service  or  labour,  but  shall  be  delivered  up,  on  claim  of  the 
party  to  whom  such  service  or  labour  may  be  due." 

This  provision  was  unanimously  adopted,  and 
every  Southern  member  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention  regarded  its  terms  as  sufficient  to 
protect  the  slave-owners.  One  of  their  prime 
objections  to  entering  the  Union  was  the  fear 
that  persons  residing  in  non-slave-holding  States 
would  declare  free  all  runaway  negroes,  or  other 
wise  interfere  with  this  form  of  property,  which 
rested  on  local  custom.  In  1772  Lord  Mansfield 
had  decided  this  very  point  in  Somerset's  case, 
and  there  was  a  tendency  to  follow  this  precedent 
in  New  England.  The  South  said  to  the  North : 

"  Our  part  of  the  country  is  newer  than  yours,  and  we 
need  labor ;  experience  has  taught  us  that  the  best  form 
of  labor  for  us  at  present  is  negro  slave  labor  for  whose 
existence  we  are  in  no  wise  responsible.  If  the  institution 
is  destroyed  we  are  wrecked.  Our  lands  would  become 
valueless;  our  commerce  destroyed.  Besides  there  would 
be  turned  loose  on  us  a  horde  of  black  barbarians  to  sweep 
away,  as  they  have  done  in  the  West  Indian  Islands,  our 
homes,  our  wives,  and  our  children.  Don't  talk  to  us  about 
the  sinfulness  of  slavery.  You  did  the  same  thing  as  long 
as  you  found  it  profitable.  But  when  you  decided  to  unload 
on  us,  you  face  about  and  preach  to  us !  You  know  nothing 
about  the  subject.  Leave  us  to  manage  our  own  affairs  and 
we  will  accord  the  same  privilege  to  you.  And  unless  you 
do  give  us  some  protection  there  will  be  no  constitution,  so 
far  as  we  are  concerned.  With  the  abstract  question  of  the 
righteousness  or  unrighteousness  of  the  question  we  have 
nothing  to  do.  Our  terms  are  known  to  you.  Will  you 
accept  or  reject  them?" 


THE   SLAVERY   PROBLEM  49 

As  seen  above,  they  were  accepted  unani 
mously. 

Congress  did  not  rest  here.  In  an  Act  passed 
in  1783,  entitled  "An  Act  respecting  fugitives 
from  justice,  and  persons  escaping  from  the  ser 
vice  of  their  masters,"  special  directions  were 
given  for  the  recovery  of  runaway  negroes. 
The  owners,  or  their  agents,  of  such  fugitives 
were  empowered  to  seize  them  whenever  found, 
as  in  other  cases  of  lost  or  stolen  property, 
without  a  warrant,  and  to  take  them  before  any 
Federal  circuit  or  district  judge,  or  any  State 
magistrate.  Upon  proof  to  the  satisfaction  of 
such  officers,  either  by  oral  testimony  or  affidavit, 
that  the  claimant  was  entitled,  under  the  laws  of 
the  State  from  which  the  runaways  fled,  to  their 
labor  or  services,  it  was  made  the  duty  of  the 
judge  or  magistrate  to  give  a  certificate  to  that 
effect  to  the  claimant.  This  was  made  a  suffi 
cient  warrant  for  his  removal  of  the  fugitives  to 
the  State  from  which  they  had  fled.  A  fine  of 
five  hundred  dollars  was  to  be  imposed  on  all 
persons  harboring  or  concealing  slaves  after 
notice  that  they  were  runaways. 

As  the  abolition  movement  gained  headway 
at  the  North,  many  of  the  States  of  that  section 
passed  so-called  "  Personal  Liberty"  laws,  which 
were  designed  to  nullify  the  Constitutional  and 
Congressional  protection  extended  to  Southern 
slave-holders.  (See  Acts  of  Pennsylvania,  1826, 
pp.  150-155.)  In  three  leading  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Courts  of  Northern  States,  however, 

4 


50  THE  TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

such  legislation  was  pronounced  unconstitu 
tional,  and  a  similar  conclusion  was  reached  by 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  the 
celebrated  Prigg  case. 

After  this  case,  in  which  Justice  Story  ren 
dered  a  decision  in  favor  of  the  South,  North 
ern  opposition  to  slavery  cast  aside  all  efforts 
to  clothe  itself  in  legal  forms. 

The  data  thus  far  presented  indicates  that, 
taking  into  consideration  the  greater  number  of 
slaves  in  the  South  and  the  seemingly  much 
greater  need  of  their  labor  there  than  in  the 
North,  the  feeling  on  the  subject  was  by  no 
means  contradictory  between  the  two  sections 
in  1787.  In  both  sections  the  presence  of  slavery 
was  encouraged  and  its  growth  forced  by  Eng 
lish  influence.  The  withdrawal  of  this  pressure 
gave  economic  conditions  full  play,  and  the 
South  came  to  cherish  that  which  the  North 
learned  to  abhor.  But  in  1787  many  of  the 
wisest  men  in  all  the  States  believed  that  slavery 
would  speedily  die  out  in  Maryland  and  Virginia, 
as  it  had  in  the  North.  The  majority  of  their 
Representatives  in  Congress  were  strongly  in 
clined  to  antislavery  views.  "  While  public  senti 
ment  in  the  three  most  southern  States  lagged 
behind,  a  Representative  from  Georgia  stated  in 
the  House,  without  contradiction,  that  not  a  man 
lived  in  Georgia  who  did  not  wish  there  were  no 
slaves,  and  that  everybody  believed  they  were  a 
curse  to  the  country." 

But  after  1808 — though  that  was  the  date  at 


THE   SLAVERY   PROBLEM  51 

which  the  Federal  prohibition  of  negro  importa 
tion  came  into  force — the  whole  situation  took 
on  a  different  complexion.  The  invention  of  the 
cotton-gin  had  entirely  revolutionized  the  pro 
duction  of  cotton.  An  almost  unlimited  market 
for  this  commodity  had  come  with  the  industrial 
and  commercial  awakening  of  England,  which 
resulted  in  the  opening  up  of  the  Gulf  territory, 
because  it  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  pro 
duction  of  cotton.  From  that  time  the  profit 
which  was  to  be  derived  from  breeding  slaves  to 
meet  the  ever-increasing  demand  in  Alabama 
and  Mississippi  overcame  the  abolitionist  senti 
ment  which  had  prevailed  in  Virginia.  Thus, 
while  the  antislavery  movement  grew  stronger 
in  the  North,  the  system  of  involuntary  negro 
servitude  gained  a  corresponding  hold  upon  the 
industrial  and  political  life  of  the  South.  King 
Cotton  had  come  into  power,  and  the  negro  was 
bound  to  his  enslavement. 

In  the  mean  time  the  humanitarian  sentiment 
which  gained  ground  in  the  North,  causing  the 
people  there  to  view  the  bondage  of  the  slave 
with  deepening  repugnance,  was  reinforced  by 
reports  of  the  cruel  treatment  to  which  the  slaves 
were  subjected  in  the  Lower  South.  The  slave- 
block  from  which  fathers  were  sold  from  their 
children  and  children  from  their  parents,  with 
no  recognition  on  the  part  of  the  dealers  of  the 
natural  affection  which  might  exist  even  in  con 
nection  with  a  black  skin ;  the  severe  punishment 
for  misdemeanors  which  were  excused  in  the 


52  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

whites;  the  penalties  for  actions  which  are  com 
mended  in  the  free ;  the  stultifying  of  all  possible 
and  laudable  ambition;  the  slave-gangs  on  the 
large  cotton  plantations,  under  brutal  overseers 
who  believed  in  no  encouragement  for  a  negro 
other  than  the  sting  of  the  lash, — these,  to  the 
harangued  North,  appeared  so  to  preponderate 
in  the  life  of  the  slave  that  the  possibility  of  any 
extenuating  circumstances  was  entirely  over 
looked. 

Abolition  societies  grew  apace.  Men  in  the 
North  worked  themselves  up  to  a  frenzy  of  de 
nunciation,  until  at  last  such  hatred  and  misun 
derstanding  were  engendered  between  the  two 
sections  that  a  patient  hearing  became  impossi 
ble.  All  this  misconception  and  misinformation 
was  concentrated  in  Mrs.  Stowe's  famous  work. 
That  it  was  an  effective  book  none  can  deny; 
but  nothing  is  easier  than  to  prove  that  it  is  an 
utter  misstatement  of  the  situation  of  the  slave. 
The  lamb-like  "  Uncle  Tom"  was  not  a  more 
typical  example  of  the  negro  slave  than  was  Nat 
Turner,  who,  in  Virginia,  in  1831,  led  an  insur 
rection  of  slaves  to  the  massacring  of  sixty-one 
white  persons,  mostly  women  and  children. 
That  there  were  "nigger-drivers"  approxi 
mating  the  character  of  Legree,  and  that  cruel 
ties  such  as  his  may  occasionally  have  been  per 
petrated,  is  as  undoubtedly  true  as  the  startling 
fact  that  the  most  cruel  overseers  were  men  from 
the  North  is  undeniable.  As  a  picture  of  the 
usual  condition  of  slavery,  however,  the  book  is 


THE   SLAVERY   PROBLEM  53 

absolutely  false;  but  even  the  possibility  of  such 
inhumanity  is  sufficient  to  condemn  the  institu 
tion  in  which  it  could  originate. 

Statements  alleging  the  habitually  cruel  treat 
ment  of  the  slaves  are  unworthy  of  credence.  A 
man  does  not  frequently  abuse  to  its  injury  a 
valuable  piece  of  property.  Moreover,  the  testi 
mony  of  travellers  is  unanimous  in  stating  that 
the  physical  well-being  of  the  slave  was,  except 
in  certain  limited  districts,  the  constant  care  of 
his  master.  Then  there  was  the  absolute  devo 
tion  of  the  slaves  to  the  families  to  which  they 
belonged,  well  known  in  antebellum  days  and 
abundantly  proved  during  the  war,  and  which 
would  not  have  existed — much  less  endured — if 
cruelty  had  been  the  common  practice  of  slave 
owners. 

The  truth  of  the  situation  is  to-day  plain.  The 
sections  stood  as  antagonists  in  a  feud  of  half  a 
century.  The  time  of  judgment  had  passed; 
the  passions  of  North  and  South  were  aroused. 
The  abolitionist  movement  found  its  opportu 
nity.  The  frothing  of  fanatics  stirred  both  sec 
tions  to  a  frenzy  with  which  astute  politicians 
played.  It  gave  to  the  leaders  the  shibboleth  by 
which  they  led  the  United  States  into  the  turmoil 
of  secession  and  the  horrors  of  that  war  that 
forced  the  renewal  of  the  partnership  the  South 
sought  to  dissolve. 


Ill 

PRECEDENT    EVENTS 

THE  statement  that  the  war  was  fought  for 
and  against  slavery — though  of  common  accept 
ance — is  true,  as  already  shown,  in  only  a  limited 
sense.  To  employ  again  Abraham  Lincoln's 
homely  figure, — when  a  husband  and  wife,  be 
tween  whom  there  is  a  decided  incompatibility 
of  temperament,  at  last  fall  out  so  hopelessly 
that  they  seek  relief  by  divorce,  the  primal  cause 
is  found  not  in  the  particular  matter  over  which 
they  quarrelled,  but  in  the  incompatibility.  The 
South  fought  because  it  would  brook  no  inter 
ference  by  the  Federal  government  in  State  pre 
rogative,  particularly  as  concerned  with  slavery, 
below  Mason  and  Dixon's  line ;  the  North  fought 
for  its  idea  of  the  Union.  From  the  beginning, 
this,  divergence  of  sentiment,  arising  from  the 
various  causes  which  we  have  in  the  preceding 
chapters  mentioned,  became  manifest  and  took 
historical  form  in  the  contest  between  the  two 
political  parties,  Democrat  and  Whig,  which 
contest,  as  is  inevitable  with  political  parties, 
was  a  continual  struggle  for  supremacy.  When, 
in  1856,  the  new  Republican  party  succeeded  to 
the  Whig,  slavery  became  the  vital  issue.  Pre 
vious  to  that  time  it  had  been  mainly  a  question 
as  to  which  organization  should  hold  the  balance 

54 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  55 

of  power,  the  South  being  specially  desirous  of 
protecting  the  institution. 

Moral  considerations  in  regard  to  slavery 
were,  as  already  pointed  out,  at  first  a  small  ele 
ment  in  these  sectional  differences.  Hence  it 
may  truly  be  said  that,  inasmuch  as  the  war  ulti 
mately  resulted  from  the  bitterness  which  was 
engendered  between  the  North  and  the  South 
by  many  years  of  strife  for  dominance,  it  was,  in 
point  of  fact,  a  war  of  politicians.  In  its  funda 
mental  causes  it  was  a  struggle  for  rule  rather 
than  a  war  for  right.  At  the  time  of  the  Louis 
iana  purchase,  when  and  where  the  institution 
of  slavery  was  entirely  out  of  the  discussion, 
George  Cabot,  of  Massachusetts,  wrote  to  Sena 
tor  Pickering,  of  the  same  State,  giving  as  his 
reason  for  opposing  the  acquisition,  "  that  the 
influence  of  our  part  of  the  Union  must  be  dimin 
ished  by  the  acquisition  of  more  weight  at  the 
other  extremity."  This  gives  the  key  to  the  con 
troversy.  It  was  a  sustained  effort  to  preserve 
the  balance  of  power,  each  section  endeavoring 
to  tip  the  scales  in  its  own  direction, — this,  and 
the  disagreement  as  to  the  extent  of  State  auton 
omy  under  the  Constitution.  After  the  settle 
ment  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  Samuel  A. 
Foote,  of  Connecticut,  referring  to  it,  said: 

"The  Missouri  question  did  not  involve  the  question  of 
freedom  or  slavery,  but  merely  whether  slaves  now  in  the 
country  might  be  permitted  to  reside  in  the  proposed  new 
State;  and  whether  Congress  or  Missouri  possessed  the 
power  to  decide." 


56  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

So,  then,  the  causes  leading  to  the  Civil  War 
may  thus  be  named  in  order  of  their  progress 
and  importance  :  sectional  differences  leading  to 
the  localization  of  the  two  great  political  parties 
respectively  in  the  North  and  the  South;  a  dis 
similarity  of  conception  as  to  State  rights  under 
the  Constitution;  the  lust  of  both  parties  for 
power  by  means  of  increased  territorial  repre 
sentation,  the  South  being  increasingly  pushed 
thereto  by  the  growing  threat  of  abolition  from 
the  North. 

In  the  original  compact  between  the  States, 
the  smaller  ones,  apprehensive  of  oppressive 
measures  on  the  part  of  the  larger,  insisted  on 
an  equality  of  senatorial  representation  as  the 
condition  of  their  agreement.  The  dispropor 
tionate  growth  of  the  population  as  between  the 
North  and  the  South  eventually  put  all  the  States 
of  the  latter  in  the  position  occupied  by  Mary 
land,  Delaware,  and  Rhode  Island  at  the  first. 
Consequently,  the  doctrine  of  State  sovereignty 
came  to  be  conceived  of  as  the  essential  protec 
tion  of  the  South,  and  her  leaders  were  not  slow 
to  augment  the  separatist  tendency. 

The  South  claimed  for  each  State  an  untram 
melled  freedom  of  action.  It  asserted  that  the 
Constitution  was  an  agreement  between  sover 
eign  States,  and  that  the  very  essence  of  sov 
ereignty  was  the  liberty  of  a  State  to  regulate  its 
own  internal  affairs,  and  its  external  in  so  far 
as  the  action  did  not  conflict  with  existing  agree 
ments,  which,  however,  might  be  broken  at  will. 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  57 

It  pointed  to  the  Treaty  of  Peace  in  1783,  and 
claimed  that  the  citing  of  the  several  names  of 
the  States  established  their  sovereignty.  It 
pointed  to  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  by 
which  it  was  undeniably  stated  that  each  of  the 
thirteen  States  of  the  Union  retained  all  rights 
of  sovereignty,  i  This  view  of  the  status  of  the 
individuals  in  the  Union  was,  for  half  a  century 
and  more  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
held  by  the  majority  of  the  people  of  the  North 
ern  States.  But  from  the  first  there  was  an 
active  separatist  opposition,  and  the  party  of  the 
Federal  idea  constantly  gained  in  strength.  It 
held  that  the  naming  of  the  several  States  in  the 
treaty  of  1783  was  simply  a  matter  of  definition; 
that  the  treaty  was  not  negotiated  by  the  sepa 
rate  States,  but  by  commissioners  representing 
their  aggregate;  and  that  the  Constitution  was 
not  a  compact  between  States,  but  an  agreement 
of  all  the  people  of  the  territory  embraced  in  the 
United  States.  It  pointed  to  the  fact  that  the 
Constitution  had  not  been  ratified  by  State  legis 
lators,  but  by  the  people.  From  the  beginning, 
the  politicians  of  the  South  denied  the  soundness 
of  the  argument,  and  acted  upon  the  assumption 
of  State  sovereignty,  and  year  after  year  they 
became  strengthened  in  their  position  and  more 
insistent  upon  the  claims  resulting  therefrom. 

For  the  first  forty-eight  years  of  its  history  the 
Union  was  dominated  by  the  South.  During 
that  time  only  two  Northern  men  were  elected 
to  the  Presidency;  neither  of  them  served  a 


58  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

second  term.  In  1819  the  North  endeavored  to 
strike  a  blow  at  this  pre-eminence  of  the  South. 
In  that  year  Missouri  petitioned  for  admission. 
Heretofore  new  States  had  been  admitted  in 
pairs, — a  slave  and  a  free  coincidently.  Thus 
Kentucky  came  in  with  Vermont;  Tennessee 
with  Ohio;  Louisiana  with  Indiana;  Mississippi 
with  Illinois.  So  there  was  a  tacit  agreement 
that  the  two  sections  should  be  equal  in  their 
territorial  gains.  But  when  the  bill  providing 
for  the  admission  of  Missouri  came  up  for  con 
sideration  in  the  House,  Representative  Tall- 
madge,  of  New  York,  offered  an  amendment 
(1819)  to  the  effect  that  the  introduction  of 
slaves  into  the  newly  proposed  State  should  be 
prohibited,  and  that  all  children  born  therein 
after  its  admission  should  be  free  at  the  age  of 
twenty-five.  This  naturally  precipitated  a  dis 
cussion  which  spread  throughout  the  country 
and  caused  intense  excitement.  The  arguments 
advanced  by  the  North  were  based,  naturally,  on 
the  injustice  of  slavery.  The  South  insisted  that 
the  diffusion  of  slavery  did  not  mean  its  increase, 
but  would,  rather,  turn  out  to  the  betterment  of 
the  condition  of  the  negroes.  It  is  pretty  certain 
that  both  sides  were  disingenuous.  More  terri 
tory  to  the  South  certainly  did  mean  more 
slaves;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  though  there 
was  a  growing  repugnance  in  the  North  to  negro 
servitude,  it  was  many  years  before  the  demoli 
tion  of  the  institution  was  taken  up  as  an  issue 
by  practical  politicians. 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  59 

The  Tallmadge  amendment  was  carried  by  a 
vote  of  87  to  76,  notwithstanding  the  impas 
sioned  warning  from  the  Territorial  delegate  of 
Missouri  that  the  measure  would  endanger  the 
Union.  The  bill,  with  this  amendment,  went  to 
the  Senate,  where  it  was  defeated  by  the  whole 
Southern  vote  aided  by  six  from  the  North,  and 
Congress  adjourned  with  the  question  still  un 
decided.  The  whole  country  was  aroused. 
Public  meetings  were  held  everywhere,  in  the 
North  supporting,  in  the  South  condemning, 
the  amendment;  and  State  Legislatures,  in  strict 
accordance  with  their  geographical  position, 
passed  resolutions  exhorting  Congress  to  one 
course  or  the  other.  Threats  of  disunion  and 
bloodshed  were  in  the  air.  North  and  South 
for  the  first  time  definitely  and,  so  it  seemed, 
irreconcilably  confronted  each  other. 

But  when  Congress  reassembled,  the  whole 
question  was  seen  to  have  been  one  of  politicians, 
and  the  direction  of  the  movement  incited  by 
them  was  changed  by  one  of  those  manoeuvres 
common  in  politics :  Maine  was  seeking  admis 
sion  as  a  State.  The  Senate  therefore  coupled 
Missouri  and  Maine  on  the  balance  of  power 
principle  which  had  long  been  adhered  to.  After 
another  amendment,  prohibiting  slavery  in  the 
former  Territory,  had  been  voted  down,  Senator 
Thomas,  of  Illinois,  proposed  that  no  restriction 
as  to  slavery  be  imposed  on  Missouri  in  her  adop 
tion  of  a  State  constitution,  but  that  there  should 
be  no  slavery  in  all  the  country  ceded  by  France 


60  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

north  of  36°  30',  Missouri  (whose  southern 
boundary  this  measure  of  latitude  is)  being  ex- 
cepted  from  the  scope  of  the  restriction.  This 
was  the  gist  of  the  famous  Missouri  Compro 
mise  (1820).  After  much  bitter  wrangling,  it 
was  at  last  accepted  by  both  Houses,  with  the 
assistance  of  eighteen  Northern  members,  whom 
John  Randolph  stigmatized  as  "  doughfaces." 
As  Carl  Schurz  says,  by  the  Missouri  Compro 
mise  "  the  slave  power  obtained  the  present  tan 
gible  object  it  contended  for;  free  labor  won  a 
contingent  advantage  in  the  future." 

What  was  it  that  thrust  into  American  politics 
this  new  question  as  to  whether  the  inhabitants 
of  States  about  to  be  created  should  be  permitted 
to  hold  slaves?  No  such  question  had  been 
raised  previously.  Louisiana,  Alabama,  Ken 
tucky,  and  Tennessee,  not  to  speak  of  Northern 
States,  had  been  admitted  without  a  breath  of 
such  discussion.  Certainly  in  the  case  of  Mis 
souri  it  proceeded  entirely  from  the  North,  and 
the  South — especially  the  slave-holders  of  Mis 
souri — was  taken  by  surprise.  Doubtless  the 
people  of  the  North  were  cultivating  an  uncom 
fortable  conscience  in  view  of  the  inconsistency 
between  slavery  and  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  not  to  mention  the  influence  exerted 
by  the  concerted  action  taken  by  the  European 
powers  against  the  foreign  slave-trade.  But 
"  beneath  the  moral  considerations  lay  others  of 
a  political  kind,  in  which  were  contained  the  con 
vulsive  force  that  caused,  after  several  premo- 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  61 

nitions,  the  social  earthquake  which  has  been 
witnessed  in  our  days." 

Thomas  Jefferson  saw  this  clearly.  Though 
he  had  long  since  retired  from  active  participa 
tion  in  public  affairs,  and  was  now  in  the  late 
eventide  of  life,  he  had,  by  reason  of  his  retire 
ment,  a  more  comprehensive  view  of  the  situa 
tion  than  had  those  who  were  participators  in  it. 
He  said : 

"The  [Missouri]  question  is  a  mere  party  trick.  The 
leaders  of  Federalism  are  taking  advantage  of  the  virtuous 
feeling  of  the  people  to  effect  a  division  of  parties  by  a 
geographical  line;  they  expect  that  this  will  insure  them, 
on  local  principles,  the  majority  they  could  never  obtain  on 
the  principles  of  Federalism.  .  .  .  The  coincidence  of  a 
marked  principle,  moral  and  political,  with  a  geographical 
line  once  conceived,"  he  continued,  "  I  feared  would  never 
more  be  obliterated  from  the  mind;  that  it  would  be  re 
curring  on  every  occasion,  and  renewing  irritations,  until 
it  would  kindle  such  mutual  and  mortal  hatred  as  to  render 
separation  preferable  to  eternal  discord.  .  .  .  The  people  of 
the  North  went  blindfold  into  the  snare,  and  followed  their 
leaders  for  a  while  with  a  zeal  truly  moral  and  laudable, 
until  they  became  sensible  that  they  were  injuring  instead 
of  aiding  the  real  interests  of  the  slaves — that  they  had  been 
used  merely  as  tools  for  electioneering  purposes — and  that 
trick  of  hypocrisy  then  fell  as  quickly  as  it  had  been  got 
up." 

The  Missouri  dispute  served  to  band  the  South 
together  in  defence  of  slavery,  and  it  crystallized 
the  Southern  doctrine  of  State  rights. 

The  North  had  struck  at  the  South,  and  the 
blow  had  been  parried;  now  the  opportunity 
came  for  the  South  to  aim  a  stroke  at  the  basis 
of  Northern  prosperity, — namely,  her  industries. 


62  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

The  imposition  of  a  high  protective  tariff  was  a 
measure  which  largely  originated  in  the  South, 
as  a  political  weapon.  Opposed  at  first  by  the 
Eastern  States,  it  nevertheless  fostered  their 
manufacturing  interests,  until  at  last  the  North 
saw  that  the  policy  was  for  her  benefit,  and  each 
Administration  witnessed  the  extension  of  the 
tariff.  So  it  was  with  the  doctrine  of  internal 
improvements,  which  won  for  the  North  the  sup 
port  of  the  West.  The  South,  however,  became 
bitterly  opposed  to  these  policies.  According  to 
Mr.  Benton: 

"In  the  colonial  States  the  Southern  were  the  rich  por 
tion  of  the  colonies,  and  expected  to  do  well  in  a  state 
of  independence.  They  had  the  exports,  and  felt  secure  of 
their  property;  not  so  the  North,  whose  agricultural  re 
sources  were  few,  and  who  expected  privations  from  the 
loss  of  British  favor.  But  in  the  first  half-century  after 
independence  this  expectation  was  reversed.  The  wealth  of 
the  North  was  enormously  aggrandized ;  that  of  the  South 
had  declined.  Northern  towns  had  become  great  cities. 
Southern  cities  had  decayed  or  become  stationary.  .  .  .  The 
North  became  a  money-lender  to  the  South.  And  this  in  the 
face  of  a  Southern  export,  since  the  Revolution,  to  the 
value  of  eight  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  The  Southern 
States  attributed  this  result  to  the  action  of  the  Federal 
government, — its  double  action  of  levying  revenue  upon  the 
industry  of  one  section  of  the  Union  and  expending  it  in 
another, — and  especially  to  its  protective  tariffs.  To  some 
degree  this  attribution  was  just." 

During  the  nullification  trouble  South  Caro 
lina  advanced  those  two  principles  in  regard  to 
which,  later  on,  the  nation  sprang  into  civil  war. 
This  State  had  few  manufactures.  It  was  there- 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  63 

fore  to  her  interest  to  buy  commodities  as 
cheaply  as  possible.  Consequently,  she  could 
have  no  sympathy  with  legislation  which  had  for 
its  object  the  fostering  of  Northern  industries  at 
her  expense.  The  raising  of  cotton  needed  no 
protection;  it  followed,  therefore,  that  the  high 
prices  resulting  from  the  tariff  taxed  the  South 
for  the  benefit  of  the  North,  especially  as  the 
principal  market  for  cotton  was  England.  It  was 
no  answer  to  the  South  to  say  that  she,  too, 
could  organize  factories  and  take  advantage  of 
the  tariff  laws.  In  the  very  nature  of  things  it 
was  impossible  to  employ  slaves  in  such  indus 
tries,  and  there  was  no  available  white  labor. 

In  1828,  incited  by  the  "Bill  of  Abomina 
tions,"  as  the  South  called  the  tariff  law  of  that 
year,  Calhoun  turned  a  political  somersault  and 
published  "  The  South  Carolina  Exposition  and 
Protest  on  the  Subject  of  the  Tariff."  In  this 
the  right  of  a  State  to  veto  Federal  action  is  as 
serted.  Thomas  Y.  Hayne  also  had  the  intrepid 
ity  to  enunciate  the  same  doctrine  in  the  Senate, 
whereupon  he  encountered  Daniel  Webster  and 
became  immortalized. 

Though  the  Massachusetts  statesman  con 
vinced  the  rest  of  the  Union  of  the  futility  of  a 
State  vetoing  national  legislation,  his  eloquent 
argument  had  not  that  effect  upon  South  Caro 
lina.  Calhoun  perfected  his  doctrine  of  nullifica 
tion,  which  the  majority  of  the  South  Carolinians 
adopted,  though  it  was  understood  by  few.  A 
State  convention  was  called  in  November,  1832, 


64  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

when  an  ordinance  based  upon  Calhoun's  doc 
trine  was  passed;  by  this  it  was  declared  and 
ordained : 

"  that  the  several  acts  and  parts  of  acts  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  purporting  to  be  laws  for  the  im 
posing  of  duties  and  imposts  on  the  importation  of  foreign 
commodities,  and  now  having  actual  operation  and  effect 
within  the  United  States,  are  unauthorized  by  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States,  and  violate  the  true  meaning 
and  intent  thereof  and  are  null,  void,  and  no  law,  nor  bind 
ing  upon  this  State,  its  officers  or  citizens ;  and  all  promises, 
contracts,  and  obligations,  made  or  entered  into,  with  pur 
pose  to  secure  the  duties  imposed  by  said  acts,  and  all 
judicial  proceedings  which  shall  hereafter  be  had  in  affirma 
tion  thereof,  are  and  shall  be  held  utterly  null  and  void. 
.  .  .  And  we,  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  do  further  de 
clare  that  we  will  not  submit  to  the  application*  of  force  on 
the  part  of  the  Federal  government  to  reduce  this  State  to 
obedience,  but  that  we  will  consider  the  passage  by  Con 
gress  of  any  act  authorizing  the  employment  of  a  military 
or  naval  force  against  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  her 
constitutional  authorities  or  citizens,  ...  as  inconsistent 
with  the  longer  continuance  of  South  Carolina  in  the  Union ; 
and  that  the  people  of  this  State  will  henceforth  hold 
themselves  absolved  from  all  further  obligation  to  maintain 
or  preserve  their  political  connection  with  the  people  of  the 
other  States;  and  will  forthwith  proceed  to  organize  a 
separate  government  and  do  all  other  acts  and  things  which 
sovereign  and  independent  States  may  of  right  do." 

A  rigorous  test  oath  was  exacted  of  all  State 
officers,  and  there  was  also  much  talk  of  war. 

Such  was  the  spirit  of  South  Carolina,  inspired 
by  Calhoun,  in  1832.  So  rampant  was  it  that 
medals  were  struck,  bearing  the  inscription, 
"  John  C.  Calhoun,  first  President  of  the  South 
ern  Confederacy."  But  the  time  for  secession 


CALHOUN,    WEBSTER,    AND   CLAY 
From  a  photograph  by  Brady 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  65 

was  not  yet.  Andrew  Jackson  was  in  the  Presi 
dential  chair.  He  issued  a  proclamation  firmly 
intimating  that  any  recourse  to  violence  on  the 
part  of  South  Carolina  would  be  met  by  stern 
measures  from  the  Union.  Calhoun  learned  that 
his  arrest  for  treason  was  under  serious  consid 
eration,  and  with  the  assistance  of  Clay  a  com 
promise  was  reached. 

Andrew  Jackson  possessed  a  correct  insight 
and  an  accurate  foresight.  He  saw  that  the  root 
of  these  troubles  was  in  the  disappointment  of 
political  aspirants.  Referring  afterwards  to  this 
episode,  he  said,  "  The  tariff  was  but  a  pretext. 
The  next  will  be  the  slavery  or  negro  question." 

While  these  discussions  and  agitations  were  in 
progress,  the  effective  abolition  movement  came 
into  being.  The  country  heretofore  had  not  been 
ripe  for  the  effectual  dissemination  of  its  princi 
ples  ;  and  never  before  had  there  been  a  William 
Lloyd  Garrison. 

The  abolitionist  movement  has  three  distinct 
stages.  In  the  first  of  these  the  advocates  of 
freedom  for  the  blacks  were  few  in  number,  and 
their  efforts  were  sporadic.  Yet  a  steady, 
though  feeble,  sentiment  continued,  and  in  the 
first  days  of  the  Constitution  it  resulted  in 
legal  freedom  for  Northern  blacks.  After  1800 
came  a  period  of  inactivity,  an  interim  at  whose 
close  began  the  second  period  of  the  abolition 
movement.  This  was  marked  by  the  formation 
(in  1815)  of  the  "Union  Humane  Society,"  in 
Ohio,  by  Benjamin  Lundy,  the  father  of  aboli- 

5 


66  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

tionism,  to  whom  Garrison,  until  compelled  to 
a  radical  position  by  the  force  of  his  convic 
tions,  was  an  active  assistant.  In  the  second 
decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  activity  of 
the  abolitionists  constantly  increased.  Class 
journals  were  established, — The  Genius  of  Uni 
versal  Emancipation,  by  Lundy,  in  1812;  the 
Herald,  Free  Press,  National  Philanthropist,  and 
Journal  of  the  Times,  all  identified  with  Garri 
son;  the  Liberator,  founded  by  him  in  1831 ;  and 
many  another  enthusiastic  sheet  whose  name 
has  been  forgotten  save  by  students  of  the  his 
tory  of  slavery. 

The  Liberator  was  established  at  Boston  be 
cause,  as  Garrison  stated,  there  was  the  place 
where  such  a  paper  was  most  needed.  In  the 
first  number  of  the  Liberator,  he  said  of  the  atti 
tude  of  Boston  towards  the  abolitionist  move 
ment,  "  I  found  here  contempt  more  bitter, 
detraction  more  relentless,  prejudice  more  stub 
born,  and  apathy  more  frozen  than  among 
slave-holders  themselves/'  No  platform  speech 
of  Garrison,  of  Wendell  Phillips,  no  poem  of 
Whittier,  no  article  in  the  Liberator,  was  more 
eloquent  or  moving  than  the  picture  on  the  front 
page  of  that  periodical. 

Here  was  represented  a  Southern  auction 
scene.  In  the  midst  of  "  slaves,  horses,  and  other 
cattle/'  which,  with  an  entire  impartiality  of  sen 
timent,  were  being  exposed  for  sale,  was  shown 
a  whipping-post  at  which  a  slave  was  undergoing 
a  cruel  flogging.  To  give  point  to  the  whole,  in 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  67 

the  background  was  the  Capitol  at  Washington, 
on  the  dome  of  which  floated  a  flag  whereon  was 
inscribed  the  word  "  Liberty."  The  slaves  could 
not  read,  but  they  could  easily  interpret  this  rep 
resentation  of  the  injustice  and  inconsistency  of 
their  lot.  True,  the  vast  majority  of  them  were 
docile  and  insensibly  contented.  But  there  were 
those  in  whose  hearts  the  word  "  Liberty"  met  a 
responsive  longing;  and  the  increase  of  fugitive 
slaves  soon  became  an  added  source  of  discon 
tent  in  the  South,  and  a  reason  for  her  demand 
for  legislation  that  irritated  the  North. 

The  abolitionist  campaign  was  carried  on  by 
three  methods, —  (i)  Individual  persuasion,  by 
which  the  most  substantial  gains  were  made  in 
the  first  years  of  the  second  stage  of  the  move 
ment.  (2)  Circulation  of  printed  matter:  great 
quantities  of  antislavery  literature  were  distrib 
uted  ;  much  of  this  was  sent  to  the  South,  where 
its  main  effect  was  to  excite  bitter  opposition. 
This  went  so  far  that  the  postmasters  in  1835 
refused  to  deliver  the  abolition  newspapers 
and  pamphlets.  Amos  Kendall,  of  Massachu 
setts,  then  Postmaster-General  and  a  stanch 
Unionist,  refused  to  compel  the  delivery  of  the 
obnoxious  literature.  He  held  that  the  postmas 
ters  were  justified  in  their  action,  because  the 
law  authorizing  the  transmission  of  newspapers 
and  pamphlets  through  the  mail  was  intended  to 
promote  the  general  good  of  the  public  and  not 
to  injure  any  section ;  that  the  abolitionist  litera 
ture  injured  the  South,  and  the  postmasters  of 


68  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

that  section  were  therefore  justified  in  refusing 
to  deliver  it.  (3)  Lectures:  this  method  of  pro 
mulgating  the  abolition  doctrines  was  confined 
chiefly  to  the  North,  and  there  it  met  with  the 
bitterest  opposition. 

The  labors  of  the  abolitionists  would  have 
been  comparatively  resultless  had  not  the  South 
in  the  heat  of  the  onslaught  forced  issues  that 
need  not  have  been  raised.  The  North,  from  the 
beginning  until  the  close  of  the  second  stage  of 
the  abolitionist  movement,  was  well-nigh  a  unit 
in  opposing  interference  by  one  State  in  the  do 
mestic  institutions  of  another,  and,  until  the 
passage  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill,  was  almost 
unanimous  in  declaring  that  the  duty  of  a  State 
into  whose  territory  a  fugitive  from  another 
State  took  refuge  was  to  aid  the  State  from 
which  flight  had  been  made  to  regain  jurisdiction 
over  the  fugitive. 

In  1832  the  abolition  movement  began  to  re 
solve  itself  into  units  of  effort ;  the  New  England 
Antislavery  Society  was  formed,  with  the  fun 
damental  tenet,  "  Immediate  emancipation  the 
duty  of  the  master  and  the  right  of  the  slave." 
In  1833  the  National  Antislavery  Society  was  or 
ganized  at  Philadelphia,  and  in  1837  it  claimed 
a  membership  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  persons.  State  societies  were  estab 
lished  throughout  the  North,  and  the  propa 
ganda  became  active.  To  an  abolitionist  a  slave 
holder  was  an  inhuman  monster  in  whom  was  no 
good;  by  the  people  at  large  he  was  not  re- 


WILLIAM    LLOYD    GARRISON 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  69 

garded  with  aversion.  To  the  slave-holder  the 
abolitionist  was  an  anarchist;  to  the  bulk  of 
the  people  of  the  North  he  was  an  incendiary 
endangering  the  welfare  of  the  common  coun 
try. 

The  testimony  of  contemporary  abolitionists 
is  unanimous  as  to  the  treatment  the  abolition 
ists  received  at  the  hands  of  the  North.  Against 
them  churches  were  closed,  and  school-houses, 
usually  the  open  court  for  the  debate  of  all  sub 
jects,  were  locked.  Mobs  attacked  and  damaged 
the  houses  of  leaders  of  the  movement.  Anti- 
slavery  lecturers  were  pelted  with  eggs,  stones, 
and  brickbats.  The  Rev.  G.  Storrs,  while  on  his 
knees  in  prayer  at  an  antislavery  meeting  in  New 
Hampshire,  was  arrested  as  a  "  common  rioter 
and  brawler."  Garrison  was  seized  while  ad 
dressing  a  meeting  in  Boston  and  haled  through 
the  streets  with  a  rope  around  his  neck;  his  life 
was  with  difficulty  saved.  Samuel  J.  May  was 
mobbed  five  times  while  lecturing  in  Vermont, 
and  H.  B.  Stanton  had  his  meetings  broken  up 
one  hundred  and  fifty  times  in  six  years.  George 
Thompson,  the  eloquent  Englishman  who  came 
at  Mr.  Garrison's  invitation  to  aid  the  cause  of 
abolition,  was  so  maltreated  in  New  England 
that  his  friends  in  Boston,  "  to  save  his  life,"  sur 
reptitiously  conveyed  him  to  a  ship,  in  which  he 
fled  to  British  territory  and  thence  to  England. 
The  attitude  towards  abolitionist  meetings  is 
shown  by  a  placard  posted  in  1835  in  Boston, 
before  Thompson's  last  advertised  lecture : 


70  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

"THOMPSON  THE  ABOLITIONIST. 

"  That  infamous  foreign  scoundrel,  Thompson,  will  hold 
forth  this  afternoon  at  46  Washington  Street.  The  present 
is  a  fair  opportunity  for  the  friends  of  the  Union  to  snake 
Thompson  out!  It  will  be  a  contest  between  the  abolition 
ists  and  the  friends  of  the  Union.  A  purse  of  one  hundred 
dollars  has  .been  raised  by  a  number  of  patriotic  citizens,  to 
reward  the  individual  who  shall  first  lay  violent  hands  on 
Thompson,  so  that  he  may  be  brought  to  the  Tar  Kettle 
before  dark.  Friends  of  the  Union,  be  vigilant!" 

This  broadside  is  of  the  usual  type  of  anti-aboli 
tion  bills,  though  the  spirit  of  opposition  in  it 
seems  to  have  been  intensified  by  the  fact  that 
Thompson  was  a  foreigner. 

Every  State  in  the  North  mobbed  abolitionist 
lecturers.  Every  State  in  the  North  repudiated 
their  doctrines.  Printing-presses  and  types  were 
destroyed  in  Cincinnati ;  for  example,  an  "  or 
ganized  mob,  led  on  by  popular  men  and  church- 
members,"  destroyed  the  office  of  the  Philan 
thropist  and  gave  its  editor,  James  G.  Burney, 
twenty-four  hours  to  leave  the  city;  only  the 
iron  will  and  determined  courage  of  the  fer 
vent  abolitionist  enabled  him  to  remain  at  his 
post.  In  Alton,  Illinois,  the  office  of  the  Ob 
server  was  four  times  sacked  by  a  mob,  and  on 
the  last  raid  Elijah  Lovejoy,  its  editor,  was 
killed. 

The  opposition  to  the  abolitionists  was  di 
rected  against  the  negroes  also;  they  were  as 
saulted,  their  houses  damaged,  and  every  effort 
for  their  education  was  thwarted.  In  Connecti 
cut  Miss  Prudence  Crandall's  school  for  negro 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  71 

girls  was  mobbed.  So  determined  was  the  oppo 
sition  to  this  school  that  the  enemies  of  the 
movement  for  the  education  of  negroes  caused 
the  Connecticut  Legislature  to  pass,  on  May  24, 
1833,  a  special  "  Black  Law"  practically  prohibit 
ing  the  education  of  colored  persons.  This  was 
received  with  joy,  the  bells  were  rung  and  can 
nons  were  fired.  Miss  Crandall  was  arrested 
and  confined  in  the  cell  from  which  a  murderer 
had  just  been  led.  After  Miss  Crandall's  release, 
her  house  was  set  on  fire;  the  incendiary  at 
tempt  failed.  A  few  nights  afterwards  the 
school  was  again  attacked  and  so  damaged  that 
Miss  Crandall  abandoned  it  and  gave  up  her 
struggle  to  maintain  in  Connecticut  a  seminary 
for  colored  girls.  This  failure  had  its  forerunner 
in  the  abandonment,  because  of  the  opposition 
by  the  "  most  respectable  citizens  of  the  place/* 
of  the  school  for  the  education  of  male  negroes, 
which  had  been  organized  two  years  before 
(1832)  in  New  Haven. 

In  New  Hampshire  the  opposition  to  negro 
education  was  as  great  as  in  her  sister  State. 
The  trustees  of  "  Noyes  Academy,"  in  Plymouth, 
voted  to  admit  colored  pupils.  "  The  respectable 
people  of  the  town  were  so  incensed"  that  they 
razed  the  building  in  which  the  school  was  kept. 
These  are  not  isolated  examples,  for,  says  Samuel 
J.  May,  the  ardent  abolitionist,  colored  children 
were  not  admitted  into  the  common  schools. 
"  This  was  not  the  utmost  of  the  contempt  in 
which  colored  people  were  treated.  They  were 


72  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

not  permitted  to  ride  in  any  public  conveyances, 
stage-coaches,  omnibuses,  or  railroad  cars,  nor 
to  take  passage  on  any  steamboats,  or  sail-pack 
ets,  excepting  in  the  steerage  or  on  deck/'  In 
church,  they  were  compelled  to  sit  in  the  back 
pews;  when,  in  one  instance  (in  1835),  a  colored 
man  bought  a  pew  on  the  floor  of  Park  Street 
Church,  Boston,  his  pew  door  was  nailed  up  and 
so  much  disturbance  was  caused  that  the  trustees 
were  obliged  to  eject  the  colored  purchaser.  In 
Dr.  Storrs's  church  a  clause  was  inserted  in  the 
pew-deeds  providing  that  the  pews  should  "  be 
held  by  none  but  respectable  white  persons."  In 
Connecticut  a  certain  colored  family  so  increased 
and  multiplied  that  it  overspread  the  dimensions 
of  the  "  negro  pew."  The  minister  invited  the 
negroes  to  take  a  front  pew,  with  the  following 
result : 

"  They  hesitated  some  time,  lest  their  doing  so  should 
give  offence.  But  I  insisted  that  none  would  have  any 
right  to  be  offended,  and  at  length  persuaded  them  to  do 
as  I  requested.  But  one  man,  a  political  partisan  of  the 
leader  of  Miss  Crandall's  persecutors,  was,  or  pretended  to 
be,  much  offended.  He  said,  with  great  warmth,  '  How 
came  that  nigger  family  to  come  down  into  that  front  pew?' 
'  Because,'  I  replied,  '  it  was  unoccupied ;  they  are  uncom 
fortably  crowded  in  the  pew  assigned  them,  and  I  requested 
them  to  remove.'  *  Well,'  said  he,  'there  are  many  in  the 
society  besides  myself  who  will  not  consent  to  their  sitting 
there.'  'Why?'  I  asked.  'They  are  always  well  dressed, 
well  behaved,  and  good-looking  withal/  '  But,'  said  he, 
'  they  are  niggers,  and  niggers  should  be  kept  to  their 
place.'  I  argued  the  matter  with  him  till  I  saw  he  could 
not  be  moved,  and  he  repeated  the  declaration  that  they 
should  be  driven  back.  I  then  said,  with  great  earnestness, 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  73 

'  Mr.  A.  B.,  if  you  do  anything  or  say  anything  to  hurt  the 
feelings  of  that  worthy  family,  and  induce  them  to  return 
to  the  pew  which  you  know  is  not  large  enough  for  them, 
so  sure  as  your  name  is  A.  B.  and  my  name  is  S.  J.  M., 
the  first  time  you  afterwards  appear  in  the  congregation 
I  will  state  the  facts  of  the  case  exactly  as  they  are,  and 
administer  to  you  as  severe  a  reproof  as  I  may  be  able  to 
frame  in  words.'  This  had  the  desired  effect.  My  colored 
friends  retained  their  new  seats."  ("Recollections  of  the 
Antislavery  Conflict,"  pp.  270,  271.) 


It  has  been  asserted  that,  in  the  general  attack 
upon  the  abolitionist  movement,  certain  sects 
took  no  part.  The  Universalists,  it  is  true,  gave 
to  the  movement  its  greatest  men,  but  the  Uni 
versalists  as  a  sect  never  advocated  it ;  the  Unita 
rians  were  no  exception  to  the  general  rule,  and 
the  Quakers,  we  may  say  in  destruction  of  a 
popular  fallacy,  never  as  a  body  in  the  nineteenth 
century  took  a  stand  against  the  institution. 
This,  too,  despite  the  most  urgent  appeals  of  the 
abolitionist  leaders. 

Though  for  fifty  years  from  the  founding  of 
the  Union  Humane  Society,  in  1815,  the  aboli 
tionists  were  to  continue  their  struggle,  they 
steadily  gained  adherents  and  advanced  their 
position.  This  was  because  of  the  steadfast  pur 
pose  and  fervid  energy  of  their  leaders,  who 
were  honest  in  their  belief  that  they  were  carry 
ing  out  God's  will  and  were  convinced,  therefore, 
that  their  doctrine  was  to  be  maintained  in  spite 
of  popular  opinion,  positive  law,  and  the  Consti 
tution  itself.  Theirs  was  the  reincarnated  spirit 
of  the  Puritan  and  theirs  the  Puritan  success; 


74  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

but  as  the  Restoration,  because  of  the  errors  of 
the  Roundheads,  overthrew  their  government, 
so  the  white  race  in  the  South  was,  by  the  over 
throw  and  subordination  of  reconstructionist 
legislation,  to  regain  its  supremacy  in  the  open 
ing  years  of  the  twentieth  century. 

The  activity  of  the  abolitionists  caused  peti 
tions  to  pour  into  Congress,  demanding  the  abo 
lition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
Thereupon  was  passed  (1836)  the  Atherton 
"  Gag  Law,"  named  after  the  anti-abolitionist 
member  from  New  Hampshire,  to  whom  it  owed 
its  introduction;  it  ruled  that  all  such  petitions 
should  be  laid  on  the  table  without  being  de 
bated,  printed,  or  referred.  This,  however,  John 
Quincy  Adams  contended,  was  unconstitutional; 
and  he  made  a  point  of  occupying  the  whole  time 
allowed  for  the  reception  of  petitions  in  present 
ing  those  of  the  abolitionists,  which  on  one  day 
numbered  five  hundred  and  eleven. 

The  South  was  now  fully  aroused  to  the 
danger  which  threatened  her  peculiar  institution. 
In  Congress,  and  elsewhere,  she  fought  as  one 
fights  for  life.  She  secured  the  passage  of  a 
resolution,  offered  by  Clay  (1837)  : 

"  that  any  attempt  of  Congress  to  abolish  slavery  in  any 
Territory  of  the  United  States  in  which  it  exists  would 
create  serious  alarm  and  just  apprehension  in  the  States 
sustaining  that  domestic  institution,  and  would  be  a  viola 
tion  of  good  faith  towards  the  inhabitants  of  any  such 
Territory  who  have  been  permitted  to  settle  with,  and  hold, 
slaves  therein ;  because  the  people  of  any  such  Territory 
have  not  asked  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  therein;  and 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  75 

because,  when  any  such  Territory  shall  be  admitted  into  the 
Union  as  a  State,  the  people  thereof  shall  be  entitled  to 
decide  that  question  exclusively  for  themselves." 

This  resolution  was  intended  to  cover  the  case 
of  Florida ;  and  doubtless  it  also  had  in  view  the 
annexation  of  Texas,  upon  which  the  South  was 
now  tenaciously  bent  in  order  to  carve  from  it 
new  slave-States.  American  colonists  had  en 
tered  it  for  that  express  purpose.  In  1829  the 
republic  of  Mexico  had  emancipated  all  slaves 
within  its  boundaries.  But  the  American  settlers 
in  what  is  now  Texas  had  refused  to  obey  this 
decree,  and  in  order  to  avoid  insurrection,  which 
in  the  weakened  condition  of  their  government 
the  Mexican  authorities  felt  unable  to  cope  with, 
they  had  permitted  the  matter  thus  to  rest.  In 
1830  an  attempt  was  made  by  President  Jack 
son  to  purchase  Texas,  but  without  success. 
The  Mexican  government  prohibited  the  immi 
gration  of  Americans  into  the  territory ;  but  Sam 
Houston,  whose  mysterious  flight  from  the  gu 
bernatorial  chair  of  Tennessee  to  the  Cherokee 
nation  in  the  Indian  Territory  had  kept  him  in 
enforced  idleness,  now  passed  over  into  Texas 
with  the  express  purpose  of  raising  an  insurrec 
tion.  Bloody  conflicts  took  place,  and  on  March 
2,  1836,  the  independence  of  Texas  was  declared. 
The  declaration  was  signed  by  about  sixty  men, 
all  of  whom,  with  the  exception  of  two,  were 
Americans. 

On  April  22,  1836,  Santa  Anna,  the  Mexican 
President,  was  made  prisoner;  and  in  his  ex- 


76  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

tremity  he  was  compelled  to  recognize  the  inde 
pendence  of  Texas.  A  republic  was  formed, 
modelled  after  the  United  States,  and  Houston 
was  inaugurated  as  its  first  President. 

It  took  eight  years  for  the  South  to  compass 
the  annexation  of  this  temporary  republic;  and 
it  was  accomplished  only  after  the  fiercest  oppo 
sition  from  the  North. 

Mississippi  voiced  the  sentiment  of  the  South 
in  a  report  of  a  committee  of  its  Legislature, 
declaring  that  "  The  South  has  very  peculiar  in 
terests  to  preserve,  already  violently  assailed  and 
boldly  threatened.  Your  committee  are  fully 
persuaded  that  this  protection  to  her  best  inter 
ests  will  be  afforded  by  the  annexation  of  Texas ; 
and  equipoise  of  influence  in  the  halls  of  Con 
gress  will  be  secured,  that  will  furnish  us  with  a 
permanent  guarantee  of  protection." 

Thus  the  South  boldly  showed  her  hand,  and 
the  challenge  was  met  in  the  same  determined 
spirit.  Several  Northern  members  of  Congress, 
headed  by  Ex-President  John  Quinoy  Adams, 
issued  an  address  in  which  it  was  charged  that 
"  it  was  intended,  by  the  admission  of  new  slave 
States,  to  secure  undue  ascendency  for  the  slave- 
holding  power  in  the  government,  and  rivet  that 
power  beyond  all  redemption." 

In  this  same  address  is  found  a  note  which  is 
not  usually  credited  to  the  North.  It  is  familiar, 
but  intensely  surprising,  considering  its  source: 

"  We  hesitate  not  to  say  that  annexation  effected  by  any 
act  or  proceeding  of  the  Federal  government,  or  any  of 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  77 

its  departments,  would  be  identical  with  dissolution.  It 
would  be  a  violation  of  our  national  compact,  its  objects, 
designs,  and  the  great  elementary  principles  which  entered 
into  its  formation,  of  a  character  so  deep  and  fundamental, 
and  would  be  an  attempt  to  eternize  an  institution  and  a 
power  of  a  nature  so  unjust  in  themselves,  so  injurious  to 
the  interests  and  abhorrent  to  the  feelings  of  the  people  of 
the  free  States,  as,  in  our  opinion,  not  only  inevitably  to 
result  in  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  but  fully  to  justify  it." 

This  doctrine  from  a  member  of  Congress 
from  Massachusetts  was  but  an  echo  of  1811, 
when  Josiah  Quincy,  another  member  of  Con 
gress  from  Massachusetts,  speaking  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  bill  to  introduce  the  "  Orleans  Terri 
tory"  into  a  State,  said  that  such  an  act  would 
be  a  breach  of  the  Constitution,  and  a  virtual 
dissolution  of  the  bonds  of  the  Union,  freeing 
the  States  composing  it  from  "  their  moral  obli 
gations  of  adhesion  to  each  other,  and  making  it 
the  right  of  all  as  it  would  become  the  duty  of 
some,  to  prepare  definitely  for  separation,  ami 
cably  if  they  might,  forcibly  if  they  must!"  The 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts  was  called  to 
order  by  Poindexter,  of  Mississippi,  who  said 
that  "  no  member  of  the  House  ought  to  be 
allowed  to  stimulate  any  portion  of  the  people 
to  insurrection  and  a  dissolution  of  the  Union." 

The  assertion  by  the  New  England  man,  fifty 
years  before  the  Civil  War,  of  the  right  to  secede 
"  amicably  if  they  might,  forcibly  if  they  must!" 
and  the  denial  of  the  doctrine  by  the  Southerner, 
is  a  pointed  illustration  of  our  thesis  that  slavery 
and  secession  were  the  tools  whereby  the  poli- 


78  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

ticians  moved  the  people.  In  the  first  years  of 
the  nineteenth  century  New  England  again  and 
again  advanced  the  right  to  secede;  before  the 
half-century  mark  was  passed  the  South  claimed 
the  right,  and  New  England  denied  it.  For  a 
decade  opinion  was  divided  in  North  and  South, 
and  in  1860  the  politicians  forced  the  war  on 
both  sections. 

Hence  we  see  that,  even  in  the  North,  seces 
sion  was  not  an  idea  of  such  strange  and  horrid 
guise  as,  twenty  years  later,  it  was  made  to 
appear.  Also,  we  know  that  the  enforced  annex 
ation  of  Texas  by  the  South  did  not  avail  in  the 
purposes  for  which  it  was  sought. 

As  the  result  of  the  Mexican  War  (1846), 
which,  although  inevitable,  was  needlessly  pro 
voked  by  President  Polk  and  his  advisers,  the 
United  States  acquired  New  Mexico  and  Cali 
fornia.  The  pregnant  question  thus  faced  the 
politicians  of  both  sections:  Should  the  newly 
gained  territory  be  slave  or  free?  This  time  the 
North  took  the  initiative ;  and  when,  in  August, 
1846,  Congress  was  considering  an  appropriation 
of  two  millions  "  for  the  settlement  of  the  boun 
dary  question  with  Mexico,"  David  Wilmot,  a 
Democratic  Representative  from  Pennsylvania, 
offered  his  famous  "  Proviso"  amendment.  Its 
terms  were  as  follows: 

"  Provided  that,  as  an  express  and  fundamental  condi 
tion  to  the  acquisition  of  any  territory  from  the  republic  of 
Mexico  by  the  United  States,  by  virtue  of  any  treaty  that 
may  be  negotiated  between  them,  and  to  the  use  by  the 
executive  of  the  moneys  herein  appropriated,  neither  slavery 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  79 

nor  involuntary  servitude  shall  ever  exist  in  any  part  of 
said  territory,  except  for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall 
first  be  duly  convicted." 

By  accident,  the  bill  failed.  But  the  signifi 
cance  of  it  is  that  this  proviso  was  offered  by  a 
Democrat.  The  extension  of  slavery  had  pro 
duced  a  schism  in  the  Democratic  ranks,  which 
was  fated  to  bring  about  the  downfall  of  the 
political  power  of  the  South. 

The  god  of  the  Southern  machine  was  Cal- 
houn.  This  great  man,  who,  from  the  day  he 
entered  Congress  in  his  twenty-ninth  year,  was 
a  power  therein,  and  soon  evinced  a  genius  which 
placed  him  high  among  the  statesmen  of  the 
world,  was  devoted  to  the  Union,  yet  neverthe 
less  he  was  the  greatest  exponent  of  that  theory 
of  politics  by  which  a  Representative  gives  the 
first  cream  of  his  interest  to  his  own  immediate 
constituents.  Two  ideas  now  dominated  his  po 
litical  creed, — the  sovereignty  of  the  individual 
State,  and  the  inviolableness  of  the  Southern  in 
stitution  of  slavery.  His  programme  of  forcing 
the  issue  on  these  two  principles  in  a  large  meas 
ure  led  to  their  being  overthrown.  In  184? 
wrote  a  letter  to  a  member  of  the  Alabama  Legis 
lature,  in  which  he  said : 

"Instead  of  shunning,  we  ought  to  court  the  issue  with 
the  North  on  the  slavery  question.  I  would  even  go  one 
step  farther,  and  add  that  it  is  our  duty — due  to  ourselves, 
the  Union,  and  our  political  institutions — to  force  the  issue 
on  the  North.  We  are  now  stronger  relatively  than  we 
shall  be  hereafter,  politically  and  morally.  Unless  we  bring 
on  the  issue,  delay  to  us  will  be  dangerous  indeed.  .  ,  , 


8o  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

This  brings  up  the  question,  How  can  it  be  so  met  without 
resorting  to  the  dissolution  of  the  Union?  .  .  .  There  is,  in 
my  opinion,  but  one  way  in  which  it  can  be  met,  and  that 
is  by  retaliation." 

This  furnishes  "  the  key  which  unlocks  his 
whole  system  of  slavery  agitation  which  he  com 
menced  in  the  year  1835.  That  system  was  to 
force  issues  upon  the  North  under  the  pretext  of 
self-defence,  and  to  sectionalize  the  South,  pre 
paratory  to  disunion,  through  the  instrumental 
ity  of  sectional  conventions,  composed  wholly  of 
delegates  from  slave-holding  States." 

But  early  in  the  history  of  this  agitation  the 
position  of  the  South  was  too  morally  weak  to 
endure  the  discussion  which  was  brought  upon 
her  by  "  forcing  the  issue."  Calhoun  and  his 
friends  did  not  realize  that  their  strength  lay  in 
passive  resistance  and  not  in  aggressive  action. 

The  third  stage  in  the  abolitionist  movement 
may  be  dated  from  the  beginning  of  the  final 
steps  leading  to  the  admission  of  Texas  to  the 
Union,  in  1845.  The  abolitionists  had  been  per 
sistent  in  their  propaganda,  but  up  to  the  period 
of  differences  between  North  and  South  over  the 
question  of  territorial  acquisition  their  progress 
had  been  unaided  by  politicians.  The  proposed 
annexation  of  territory  and  the  formation  of  new 
States  aroused  the  leaders  of  the  North,  and, 
though  persistently  and  vehemently  disavowing 
the  theories  of  the  abolitionists,  they  were  hence 
forth  to  be  the  means  by  which  the  aims  of  the 
latter  were  to  be  gained.  The  efforts  of  the 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  81 

abolitionists  were  directed  to  the  total  aboli 
tion  of  slavery  because  of  its  evils;  and  because 
of  these  evils  the  efforts  of  the  politicians  were 
directed  to  the  confinement  of  slavery  to  desig 
nated  sections.  The  proslavery  opinions  of  the 
people  of  the  North  were  thus  under  great  press 
ure;  yet  down  to  the  outbreak  of  the  war  of 
secession  the  majority  of  them,  despite  the  fact 
that  they  had  no  inclination  to  permit  slavery  in 
their  section,  were  bitterly  opposed  to  interfer 
ence  with  the  institution  as  it  existed  in  the 
South.  However,  they  were  no  less  determined 
to  follow  the  lead  of  their  politicians  and  repress 
the  extension  of  slavery  into  new  Territories, 
than  were  the  people  of  the  South  to  follow 
theirs  and  enlarge  the  territory  of  the  slave 
States. 

In  1838  the  Legislatures  of  Massachusetts, 
Ohio,  and  Rhode  Island  had  protested  against 
the  admission  of  Texas.  In  1843  Connecticut 
and  New  Jersey  joined  the  protestants.  The 
movements  leading  to  these  protests  marked  the 
changed  status  of  abolitionism.  We  find  an  al 
liance  between  the  politicians  and  the  abolition 
ists  perfected,  and  Garrison  and  his  colleagues 
addressing  large  and  respectful  audiences.  Yet 
even  at  this  time  there  was  generally  a  great 
reluctance  to  discuss  the  question  of  slavery. 
Conservatism  still  controlled  North  and  South, 
and  abolition,  when  viewed  apart  from  politics, 
was  looked  on  askance.  The  treatment  of  the 
negro  and  his  supporters  was,  however,  less 

6 


82  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

severe,  and  platform  and  pulpit  resounded  with 
the  clamor  of  the  abolitionists.  The  "  under 
ground  railway"  was  in  active  operation  by  1838. 
A  constant  northward  movement  of  slaves  went 
on.  From  abolitionist  to  abolitionist  at  the  chain 
of  stations  (private  houses  usually  a  night's  jour 
ney  apart)  the  fleeing  slaves  were  passed  until 
they  were  safe  from  pursuit,  in  Canada.  From 
1850  to  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  between  North 
and  South  the  work  of  the  underground  railway 
steadily  increased ;  and  the  change  in  public  sen 
timent  in  the  fifties  enabled  the  majority  of  the 
escaped  slaves  to  remain  in  the  Northern  States 
and  defy  those  laws  by  which  the  South  had 
deemed  the  right  to  the  possession  of  her  slave 
property  to  have  been  secured  in  whatever  State 
it  might  be  found. 

The  aggressiveness  of  the  South  served  only 
to  render  impregnable  the  position  of  the  anti- 
slavery  politicians  of  the  North,  and  to  goad  to 
frenzied  activity  the  abolitionists,  now  divided 
into  a  radical,  seceding  society,  and  a  conserva 
tive  lai&sez-faire  one.  Every  day  the  number  was 
growing  of  those  who  not  only  were  indomitably 
opposed  to  the  extension  of  the  domain  of 
slavery,  but  also  saw  in  its  presence  upon  Ameri 
can  soil  an  intolerable  evil.  The  preachers  of 
abolition  were  possessed  of  a  spirit  like  that  of 
enthusiasts  who  court  eternal  glory  in  martyr 
dom  for  their  cause.  No  argument  could  silence 
them,  and  mob  violence  could  not  put  them 
down.  They  were  intemperate,  and  it  may  per- 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  83 

haps  be  laid  to  their  door  that  they  precipitated 
a  terrible  war  in  eradicating  an  institution  of 
which  the  country  might  have  been  rid  peace 
fully;  but  in  the  whole  history  of  zeal  for  hu 
manity,  few  are  the  examples  that  have  equalled 
the  devotion  given  to  the  abolition  movement 
in  the  United  States. 

In  1850  the  parliamentary  fight  centred  on  the 
admission  of  California.  This  Territory  had 
framed  an  antislavery  constitution.  But  the 
North  insisted  on  attaching  the  Wilmot  Proviso 
to  the  organization  of  the  rest  of  the  Territory 
gained  from  Mexico.  This  was  the  deadlock. 
The  South  was  willing  to  admit  California  as  a 
free  State  without  this  proviso. 

The  air  was  full  of  secession  talk,  which, 
though  many  affected  to  regard  it  as  gasconade, 
after-events  proved  to  be  seriously  meant.  In 
this  year  (1850)  Robert  Toombs  wrote: 

"  I  saw  General  [President]  Taylor  and  talked  fully  with 
him,  and,  while  he  stated  that  he  had  given  and  would 
give  no  pledges  either  way  about  the  proviso,  he  gave  me 
clearly  to  understand  that  if  it  were  passed  he  would  sign 
it.  My  course  became  instantly  fixed.  I  would  not  hesi 
tate  to  oppose  the  proviso,  even  to  the  extent  of  a  dissolu 
tion  of  the  Union." 

The  South  was  then  drifting  towards  the  point 
reached  ten  years  later.  But  a  temporary  stay 
was  effected  by  the  compromise  introduced  by 
Henry  Clay,  his  last  signal  service.  Clay  was  a 
genius  in  compromise.  No  man  knew  better 
than  he  how  to  ward  off  imminent  political  dan- 


84  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

ger  by  temporary  measures  which  neither  party 
could  with  good  grace  reject.  His  principles  in 
vested  him  with  that  sufficient  ease  that  enabled 
him,  without  an  effort  of  conscience,  to  accom 
modate  his  action  to  the  requirements  of  contra 
dictory  positions.  His  present  measure  provided 
for  the  admission  of  California  with  her  free  con 
stitution;  the  establishment  of  Territorial  gov 
ernments  in  the  rest  of  the  Mexican  cession, 
without  any  restriction  as  to  slavery;  a  deter 
mination  of  the  boundary  between  Texas  and 
New  Mexico,  which  was  in  dispute;  provision 
for  the  payment  of  the  public  debt  of  Texas ;  a 
declaration  of  the  inexpediency  of  abolishing 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia ;  the  prohibi 
tion  of  the  slave-trade  in  that  District;  an  ef 
fectual  provision  for  the  restoration  of  fugitive 
slaves ;  a  declaration  that  Congress  has  no  power 
to  interfere  with  the  slave-trade  between  the 
States. 

This  was  a  compromise  worthy  of  Clay.  In 
regard  to  the  Mexican  territory,  it  conceded 
nothing  by  which  the  antislavery  people  would 
lose,  for  slavery  was  not  likely  to  be  established 
there;  and  it  recalled  to  the  North  the  terms 
of  the  Constitution. 

Clay  was  followed  by  Calhoun  in  an  appeal  for 
peace,  without  any  abatement  of  his  contention 
for  Southern  rights,  as  they  were  understood  by 
him.  It  only  needed  that  the  other  one,  and  the 
supreme,  of  the  great  senatorial  triumvirate 
should  be  heard.  Of  Daniel  Webster,  Carlyle 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  85 

said,  "  As  a  logic-fencer  or  parliamentary  Her 
cules,  one  would  incline  to  back  him  at  first  sight 
against  all  the  extant  world."  Never  did  states 
man's  mere  word,  independent  of  political  com 
binations,— though  Webster  was  an  able  politi 
cian, — go  farther  than  his.  In  these  days  of  the 
decline  of  popular  respect  for  oratory,  it  is  diffi 
cult  to  conceive  of  the  full  effect  of  Webster's 
utterances.  His  "  Seventh  of  March  Speech" 
was  one  of  those  efforts  which  are  potent  in 
making  history.  He  began  with,  "  I  wish  to 
speak  to-day,  not  as  a  Massachusetts  man,  nor 
as  a  Northern  man,  but  as  an  American.  ...  I 
speak  to-day  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union." 
In  his  recital  of  the  history  of  slavery  he  alluded 
to  the  fact  that  at  the  framing  of  the  Constitution 
the  eminent  men  in  both  parts  of  the  country 
held  slavery  to  be  an  evil.  But  the  evil  still 
existed,  and  was  more  strongly  than  ever  in 
trenched  in  the  South.  He  called  the  attention 
of  the  sober-minded  men  of  the  North  to  the  fact 
that  the  Constitution  demanded  the  rendition  of 
fugitive  slaves.  He  paid  his  compliments  to  the 
abolitionists :  "  I  do  not  think  them  useful.  I 
think  their  operations  for  the  last  twenty  years 
have  produced  nothing  good  or  valuable."  Re 
ferring  to  the  change  of  sentiment  on  the  part  of 
Virginia  in  regard  to  slavery,  he  attributed  it  to 
the  intemperance  of  the  abolitionists.  "  Every 
thing  that  these  agitating  people  have  done  has 
been,  not  to  enlarge,  but  to  restrain,  not  to  set 
free,  but  to  bind  faster,  the  slave  population  of 


86  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

the    South."      And    for    those    who    talked    of 
"  peaceable  secession"  he  said : 

"  Sir,  he  who  sees  these  States,  now  revolving  in  har 
mony  around  a  common  centre,  and  expects  them  to  quit 
their  places  and  fly  off  without  convulsion,  may  look  the 
next  hour  to  see  the  heavenly  bodies  rush  from  their 
spheres,  and  jostle  against  each  other  in  the  realms  of 
space,  without  causing  the  wreck  of  the  universe." 

Webster's  speech  was  a  terrible  disappoint 
ment  for  the  North.  Theodore  Parker,  the  abo 
litionist  Unitarian  minister  of  Boston,  who  more 
than  once  wrote  his  sermon  with  loaded  pistols 
on  his  desk,  and  a  determination  in  his  mind  to 
protect  from  arrest  fugitive  slaves  who  were  con 
cealed  in  his  house,  accused  Webster  of  having 
sold  himself  for  a  chance  of  the  Presidency. 
Seward  spoke  of  the  "  higher  law,"  and  thus  gave 
the  antislavery  men  a  doctrine  that  served  them 
in  good  stead.  But  Webster  was  constitutional. 
California  was  admitted,  and  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law  was  passed.  The  fact  that  the  bill  was 
signed  by  Millard  Fillmore,  "  a  New  York  man 
and  a  Unitarian  withal,"  was  a  fact  that  was 
particularly  grievous  to  the  abolitionists,  whose 
cause  received  a  setback.  But  it  was  only  a  lull 
before  the  gathering  of  the  final  storm.  What 
both  sides  failed  to  grasp  was  the  change 
wrought  by  circumstances  beyond  individual 
or  party  control.  Viewed  from  a  strictly  legal 
stand-point,  the  South  was  unquestionably  cor 
rect  in  its  interpretation  of  the  Constitution; 
but  it  failed  to  give  due  weight  to  the  moral 


PRECEDENT   EVENTS  87 

aspects  of  the  case.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
North — or  that  portion  of  it  which  had  now 
set  its  face  resolutely  against  slavery — did  not 
always  put  itself  in  the  place  of  its  Southern 
rivals,  so  as  to  understand  fully  what  emancipa 
tion  meant  for  them.  In  the  course  of  time 
morality  always  outstrips  the  law  in  its  ideals  of 
justice  and  righteousness,  and,  unless  through 
the  interposition  of  equity  or  legislation,  the 
popular  mind  will  itself  make  short  work  of  ob 
jectionable  legal  conceptions.  This  was  the 
doctrine  of  the  "  higher  law"  which  was  then 
established  at  the  North.  It  was  the  basis  of 
action.  In  the  South  the  doctrine  of  State 
rights  was  no  less  potent  to  force  the  issue.  The 
antagonists  were  now  face  to  face.  Which 
should  give  the  provocation  for  assault  was  now 
the  one  question. 


IV 

THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   SLAVERY 

"  THERE  is  a  higher  law  than  the  Constitu 
tion,"  Seward  had  said,  and  this  phrase  became 
a  shibboleth  of  the  abolitionists.  Moral  senti 
ment  thus  became  an  effective  political  weapon, 
but  one  that  its  creator  shrank  from  using  in  any 
cause  but  that  of  emancipation ;  for  the  "  higher 
law"  meant  one  thing  when  applied  to  slavery, 
and  it  meant  quite  another  when  considered  in 
connection  with  the  tariff.  The  doctrine  by 
which  the  Constitution  might  be  abrogated 
found  little  favor  with  President  Fillmore, — this 
perhaps  because  of  the  jealousy  which  he  bore  to 
its  author,  the  brilliant  Senator  from  New  York. 
However  that  may  be,  Fillmore,  who  when  a 
Representative  was  a  radical  antislavery  Whig, 
reversed  his  political  position,  abandoned  prin 
ciples  for  the  sake  of  policy,  and  gave  his  sup 
port — which  was  decisive — to  the  passage  of  the 
Compromise  Bill.  The  position  of  Seward  and 
the  action  of  Fillmore  illustrate  the  effect  per 
sonal  aspirations  had  upon  the  political  move 
ments  that  preceded  the  war.  That  the  national 
policy  was  shaped  upon  personalities,  and  that 
the  selfish  interests  of  ambitious  politicians  deter 
mined  the  course  of  national  as  well  as  of  local 
affairs,  are  undeniable  truths. 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   SLAVERY     89 

The  Compromise,  or  Omnibus  Bill  (1850),  as 
it  was  derisively  called  by  its  opponents,  was  far- 
reaching  in  its  effect.  Its  ultimate  results  were, 
however,  the  opposite  of  those  alleged  to  have 
been  its  purpose;  for  instead  of  allaying  irrita 
tion  it  stirred  up  bitterness.  The  two  most 
important  provisions  of  this  bill — in  which  it  may 
well  be  said  were  planted  the  roots  of  the  par 
liamentary  struggle  of  the  late  fifties — were  the 
waiving  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso  in  the  establish 
ment  of  New  Mexico  and  Utah  as  Territories, 
and  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  The  former  pro 
vided  a  logical  argument  for  the  subsequent  re 
peal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  also  made 
possible  the  bitter  struggle  over  Kansas.  The 
latter  gave  the  antislavery  men  in  the  North  a 
powerful  engine  wherewith  to  work  on  the  popu 
lar  emotions  of  their  section. 

The  Fugitive  Slave  Law  caused  more  pitiful 
shifting  and  skulking  to  avoid  responsibility  than 
any  previous  piece  of  national  legislation.  The 
Northern  men  were  willing  enough  to  see  it 
enacted,  but  many  of  them  were  not  willing  to 
share  in  the  Act  that  placed  it  upon  the  statute 
books.  It  was  carried  by  a  vote  of  109  to  76. 
Many  Northern  Representatives  purposely  ab 
sented  themselves  while  the  vote  was  being 
taken.  Thaddeus  Stevens  suggested  to  the 
Speaker  that  he  "  send  a  page  to  notify  the  mem 
bers  from  our  side  of  the  House  that  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law  has  been  disposed  of,  and  that  they 
may  now  come  back  into  the  hall."  A  resolution 


90  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

was  afterwards  passed  by  the  Common  Council 
of  the  city  of  Chicago  that  "  the  Senators  and 
Representatives  in  Congress  from  the  free  States, 
who  aided  and  assisted  in  the  passage  of  this 
infamous  law,  and  those  who  basely  sneaked 
away  from  their  seats,  and  thereby  evaded  the 
question,  richly  merit  the  reproach  of  all  lovers 
of  freedom,  and  are  fit  only  to  be  ranked  with  the 
traitors  Benedict  Arnold  and  Judas  Iscariot,  who 
betrayed  his  Lord  and  Master  for  thirty  pieces 
of  silver." 

The  South,  of  course,  viewed  the  law  in  a 
different  light,  though  there  is  great  reason  for 
supposing  that  it  was  elated  by  it  less  as  a  means 
of  retaining  its  property  than  for  its  effect  as  a 
defeat  of  the  North.  In  the  first  place,  the  slave 
holders  of  the  Cotton  States  were  not  suffering 
to  a  great  extent  by  the  loss  of  fugitive  negroes ; 
these  came  mostly  from  the  border  States  of  the 
South.  Then,  again,  the  advocates  of  the  Fugi 
tive  Slave  Law  had  little  confidence  in  the  possi 
bility  of  enforcing  the  law.  When  Webster  ex 
pressed  his  determination  to  aid  in  putting  into 
effect  that  part  of  the  Constitution  which  re 
quired  the  rendition  of  runaway  slaves,  Calhoun 
replied,  "  What  if  you  do  enact  such  a  law?  The 
people  of  New  England  will  not  submit  to  it." 

It  is  even  possible  that  the  Southern  extre 
mists  did  not  wish  the  bill  passed.  Their  plan 
seems  to  have  been  to  propose  a  measure  so 
stringent  that  the  North  would  not  agree  to  it, 
whereupon  the  Northerners  might  be  charged 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   SLAVERY     91 

with  wilfully  invalidating  the  Constitution. 
Seward's  opinion  was  that  "  Political  ends — 
merely  political  ends — and  not  real  evils,  result 
ing  from  the  escape  of  slaves,  constituted  the 
prevailing  motives  to  the  enactment."  After  the 
measure  had  become  law,  Senator  Butler,  or 
South  Carolina,  admitted  in  so  many  words  that 
he  "would  just  as  soon  have  the  law  of  1795  as 
the  present  law,  for  any  purpose,  so  far  as  re 
gards  the  reclamation  of  fugitive  slaves." 

But  the  passing  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law 
proved  to  be  an  unfortunate  move  for  the  South. 
Its  severe  terms  were  calculated  to  increase  the 
irritation  of  the  North,  and,  indeed,  did  arouse 
the  people  there  to  the  highest  pitch  of  indigna 
tion.  Because  of  the  use  made  of  its  text  by  the 
abolitionists,  it  helped  more  than  anything  else 
to  array  men  against  slavery.  Those  who,  hith 
erto,  had  been  wavering  as  to  their  acceptance 
of  radical  abolitionist  principles,  on  its  account 
now  decided  in  favor  of  universal  freedom.  It 
gave  the  politicians  who  professed  antislavery 
views  a  tremendous  vantage-ground  for  argu 
ment.  The  poorest  of  their  speakers  could  work 
on  the  sympathies  of  voters,  already  predis 
posed  against  the  Southern  system,  by  holding 
up  to  execration  a  law  which  placed  the  deter 
mination  of  a  man's  freedom  wholly  in  the  hands 
of  a  commissioner,  and  that,  too,  without  benefit 
of  jury  or  right  of  appeal!  A  particularly  objec 
tionable  feature  of  the  law,  and  one  that  rendered 
it  open  to  criticism,  was  found  in  the  fact  that 


92  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

the  United  States  commissioner  received  a  fee 
of  ten  dollars  if  he  sent  an  alleged  fugitive  back 
to  slavery,  and  but  five  dollars  if  he  pronounced 
him  free. 

The  law  was  rendered  almost  inoperative  by 
the  opposition  of  the  people  of  the  North,  and 
the  comparatively  few  instances  in  which  it  was 
enforced  augmented  the  strength  of  the  aboli 
tionists.  Not  infrequently,  black  men  and 
women  were  violently  rescued  from  the  slave- 
hunters  and  the  officers  of  the  law.  When  the 
negro  Burns,  for  instance,  was  delivered  up  by 
Commissioner  Loring,  he  could  be  taken  out  of 
Boston  only  under  the  escort  of  a  United  States 
artillery  battalion,  three  platoons  of  marines,  the 
marshal's  civil  posse  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  men,  a  field-piece,  with  another  platoon  of 
marines  as  its  guard.  The  mob  had  been  excited 
to  frenzy  by  speeches  from  Theodore  Parker  and 
Wendell  Phillips,  who  incited  it  to  rescue  the 
slave. 

Wendell  Phillips  represented  as  well  as  led  the 
most  uncompromising  school  of  abolitionists. 
For  him  the  Constitution  was  nothing  other  than 
a  compact  with  hell  in  so  far  as  it  protected 
slavery.  His  sincerity  is  as  unquestionable  as  his 
eloquence  was  powerful;  but  his  devotion  to 
idealism  in  regard  to  the  rights  of  the  negro  can 
only  be  characterized  as  fanatical.  He  never 
voted,  for  he  would  have  no  part  or  lot  in  a 
system  which  supported  this  "  sum  of  villanies." 

Between  the  radical  wing  of  the  abolitionists 


LETTER    FROM    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN   TO   SALMON    P.   CHASE 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF    SLAVERY     93 

and  the  politicians  of  both  great  parties  there 
was,  however,  even  yet  a  great  gulf  fixed.  The 
former  were  eager  to  settle  the  whole  question 
of  slavery  by  the  "  higher  law."  On  the  other 
hand,  even  the  Whigs  of  the  North  could  not 
forget  that  there  was  in  existence  such  a  thing 
as  the  Constitution.  That  document  left  no 
room  for  argument  in  regard  to  what  the  differ 
ent  States  should  do  as  to  runaway  slaves.  In 
it  was  not  only  an  unequivocal  Federal  provision, 
but  a  direct  inhibition  on  State  legislation. 

Unjust,  iniquitous,  inconsistent  with  the  prin 
ciples  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  this 
clause  was  held  to  be  by  the  antislavery  party; 
nevertheless,  it  was  the  weapon  of  the  Southern 
Democrats  and  the  sharpest  horn  of  the  dilemma 
which  confronted  the  Northern  Whigs.  Conse 
quently,  whatever  may  have  been  the  private  sen 
timents  of  individual  members  of  the  latter  party, 
the  platform  to  which  the  whole  party  agreed 
was  far  from  according  with  the  views'  of  the 
extreme  abolitionists. 

The  Democratic  Convention,  which  met  on  the 
1st  of  June,  1852,  and  nominated  Franklin  Pierce, 
of  New  Hampshire,  for  the  Presidency,  adopted 
the  following  plank  regarding  slavery : 

"  That  Congress  has  no  power  under  the  Constitution  to 
interfere  with  or  control  the  domestic  institutions  of  the 
several  States,  and  that  such  States  are  the  sole  and  proper 
judges  of  everything  appertaining  to  their  own  affairs,  not 
prohibited  by  the  Constitution;  that  all  efforts  of  the  abo 
litionists,  or  others,  made  to  induce  Congress  to  interfere 
with  questions  of  slavery,  or  to  take  incipient  steps  in 


94  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

relation  thereto,  are  calculated  to  lead  to  the  most  alarming 
and  dangerous  consequences ;  and  that  all  such  efforts  have  an 
inevitable  tendency  to  diminish  the  happiness  of  the  people, 
and  endanger  the  stability  and  permanency  of  the  Union,  and 
ought  not  to  be  countenanced  by  any  friend  of  our  political 
institutions." 

When  it  is  remembered  that  on  a  platform 
containing  this  clause  a  New  England  man  was 
elected  President  in  1852,  it  will  be  seen  that  at 
that  date  there  was  a  large  body  of  men  in  the 
North  who  were  still  sympathizers  of  the  South 
in  her  fight  for  the  protection  of  its  peculiar  in 
stitution. 

The  Whig  Convention,  also,  was  held  in  Bal 
timore,  on  the  i6th  of  June.  Note  now  the 
platform  on  which  General  Winfield  Scott  was 
nominated : 

"  The  series  of  acts  of  the  Thirty-first  Congress— the  act 
known  as  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  included — are  received 
and  acquiesced  in  by  the  Whig  party  of  the  United  States 
as  a  settlement  in  principle  and  substance  of  the  dangerous 
and  exciting  question  which  they  embrace ;  and  so  far  as 
they  are  concerned,  we  will  maintain  them  and  insist  on 
their  strict  enforcement,  until  time  and  experience  shall 
demonstrate  the  necessity  of  further  legislation,  to  guard 
against  the  evasion  of  the  laws  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
abuse  of  their  powers  on  the  other,  not  impairing  their 
present  efficiency;  and  we  deprecate  all  agitation  of  the 
question  thus  settled,  as  dangerous  to  our  peace ;  and  will 
discountenance  all  efforts  to  renew  or  continue  such  agita 
tion  whenever,  wherever,  or  however  the  attempt  may  be 
made;  and  we  will  maintain  this  system  as  essential  to 
the  nationality  of  the  Whig  party  of  the  Union." 

Thus  there  was  little  to  choose  between  the 
platforms  of  the  two  great  parties.  Both  were 


THE    NATIONALIZATION   OF    SLAVERY     95 

willing  to  allow  the  country  to  rest  from  the  bit 
ter  disputes  over  slavery.  It  was  tacitly  agreed 
that  the  compromise  measures  of  1850  were  to  be 
accepted  by  both  parties  as  oil  allaying  the  trou 
bled  waters.  Franklin  Pierce  was  now  at  the 
helm,  which  expression  in  his  case  is  nothing 
more  than  a  figure  of  speech,  for  of  him  no  more 
is  needed  in  the  way  of  characterization  than  to 
say  that  he  was  an  honest  man  and  a  gentleman, 
and  of  average  mediocrity  as  Presidents  go.  In 
his  inaugural  address,  President  Pierce  said, — 
and  it  is  easy  to  imagine  the  sigh  of  content  with 
which  he  prepared  this  part  of  his  speech, — "  I 
believe  that  involuntary  servitude  is  recognized 
by  the  Constitution.  I  believe  that  the  States 
where  it  exists  are  entitled  to  efficient  remedies 
to  enforce  the  constitutional  provisions.  I  hold 
that  the  compromise  measures  of  1850  are 
strictly  constitutional,  and  to  be  unhesitatingly 
carried  into  effect.  And  now,  I  fervently  hope 
that  the  question  is  at  rest." 

The  controversy  for  a  time  was  stilled.  For 
a  time  there  was  to  be  a  truce,  an  era  of  appar 
ent  good-will.  Aside  from  the  abolitionists,  the 
North  was  contented;  it  had  acquiesced  in  such 
measures  as  gave  the  South  all  she  could  pos 
sibly  expect.  This  state  of  peace  was  rudely 
shattered,  however,  by  Douglas,  and  for  no 
other  reason  than  the  desire  to  further  his 
ambitious  schemes  for  personal  aggrandize 
ment. 

A  bill  for  the  organization  of  the  Territory  of 


96  THE  TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

Nebraska  had  been  passed  in  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives.  This  bill  was  introduced  into  the 
Senate  in  December,  1853,  and  was  referred  to 
the  Committee  on  Territories,  of  which  Douglas 
was  chairman.  The  Territory  of  Nebraska  in 
cluded  the  present  States  of  Kansas,  Nebraska, 
Montana,  North  and  South  Dakota,  Wyoming, 
and  part  of  Colorado. 

On  January  4,  1854,  Douglas  made  a  report 
intended  to  be  far-reaching  in  its  effect,  which 
was  so,  indeed,  for  it  precipitated  afresh  the  sec 
tional  quarrel  with  such  vehemence  that  it  could 
no  more  be  allayed  until  after  there  had  been  a 
terrific  and  fratricidal  war.  In  this  report  it  was 
declared  that  "  It  is  a  disputed  point  whether 
slavery  is  prohibited  in  the  Nebraska  country  by 
valid  enactment.  ...  In  the  opinion  of  those 
eminent  statesmen  who  hold  that  Congress  is 
invested  with  no  rightful  authority  to  legislate 
upon  the  subject  of  slavery  in  the  Territories, 
the  eighth  section  of  the  act  preparatory  to  the 
admission  of  Missouri  is  null  and  void." 

It  was  this  eighth  section  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  which  prohibited  the  extension  of 
slavery  in  all  the  Louisiana  territory  lying  north 
of  latitude  36°  30',  the  State  of  Missouri  ex- 
cepted.  This  enactment  had  become  a  source 
of  bitter  regret  to  the  Southerners,  for — since 
all  available  territory  lying  south  of  north  lati 
tude  36°  30'  had  been  organized  into  States — 
it  precluded  all  expansion  of  the  slave-holding 
power.  Moreover,  it  gave  the  North  a  vast 


THE    NATIONALIZATION   OF    SLAVERY     97 

country  out  of  which  numerous  free  States 
might  be  carved.  The  South  saw  its  equality  of 
power  in  the  Senate  doomed.  The  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  was  therefore  its  last 
hope.  This  could  never  be  formally  carried.  But 
that  measure  might  be  abrogated  by  being  de 
clared  unconstitutional.  This  is  what  Douglas 
discovered  that  the  compromise  measures  of 
1850  had  done.  His  report  stated  that  "  It 
is  apparent  that  the  compromise  measures  of 
1850  affirm,  and  rest  upon  the  following  propo 
sitions  : 

"  First. — That  all  questions  pertaining  to 
slavery  in  the  Territories,  and  in  the  new  States 
to  be  formed  therefrom,  are  to  be  left  to  the 
people  residing  therein,  by  their  appropriate  rep 
resentatives,  to  be  chosen  by  them  for  that  pur 
pose. 

"  Second. — That  '  all  cases  involving  title  to 
slaves/  and  '  questions  of  personal  freedom/  are 
to  be  referred  to  the  adjudication  of  the  local 
tribunals,  with  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States. 

"  Third. — That  the  provision  of  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States  in  respect  to  fugitives 
from  service  is  to  be  carried  into  faithful  execu 
tion  in  all  '  the  original  Territories/  the  same  as 
in  the  States. 

"  The  substitute  for  the  bill  which  your  com 
mittee  have  prepared,  and  which  is  commended 
for  the  favorable  action  of  the  Senate,  proposes 
to  carry  these  propositions  and  principles  into 

7 


98  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

practical  operation,  in  the  precise  language  of 
the  compromise  measures  of  1850." 

The  proposition  to  repeal  the  Missouri  Com 
promise  came  upon  the  North  with  the  stunning 
effect  of  a  thunderbolt.  The  settlement  of  1820 
had  come  to  be  regarded  as  something  sacred 
and  inviolate.  To  repudiate  it  seemed  in  the 
nature  of  a  breach  of  faith.  To  obliterate  the 
prohibitive  line  at  36°  30'  was  to  overthrow 
the  bulwarks  upon  which  the  North  had  all 
along  relied  to  stem  the  tide  of  slavery  extension. 
There  were  very  many  in  Massachusetts  who, 
so  distinctly  sectionalized  had  the  country  be 
come,  would  have  as  freely  welcomed  a  propo 
sition  to  eradicate  their  State  line.  Doubtless  it 
is  hard  for  the  present  generation  to  realize  what, 
in  those  days  of  the  fifties,  the  terms  North  and 
South  meant.  They  were  as  separate  as  two 
nations  who,  diametrically  opposed  in  every  in 
terest,  yet  abode  discontentedly  under  the  same 
government  and  eyed  each  other  with  suspicious 
jealousy  across  the  same  legislative  halls.  And 
both  sections  were  conscious  of  these  facts.  No 
more  striking  proof  of  this  could  be  found  than 
in  the  literature  of  the  day,  which,  North  and 
South,  reflects  sectional  sentiment. 

The  form  in  which  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill 
was  finally  passed  provided  for  the  organization 
of  both  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  The  understand 
ing  was,  among  those  who  engineered  the  meas 
ure  (without,  however,  divulging  all  their  pur 
pose),  that  Kansas  should  be  an  acquisition  to 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF    SLAVERY     99 

the  slave-holding  States.  This  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  Douglas  declared  that  the  true  in 
tent  and  meaning  of  the  bill  was  not  to  legislate 
slavery  into  any  Territory  or  State,  and  not  to 
exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave  the  people 
perfectly  free  to  regulate  their  domestic  institu 
tions  in  their  own  way. 

This  was  the  doctrine  known  as  "popular 
sovereignty,"  but  nicknamed  "  squatter  sov 
ereignty"  by  the  opponents  of  the  bill.  The 
measure  was  finally  passed  on  May  26,  1854.  It 
was  signed  by  the  President  amidst  the  firing  of 
cannon  and  the  triumphant  shouting  of  its 
friends.  But  these  demonstrations  were  truly 
premonitory  of  the  battle-cries  and  deadly  bom 
bardments  which  were  to  follow,  for  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Bill  was  a  direct  and  causal  antecedent 
of  the  war.  Doubtless  the  controversy  would 
have  sprung  up  again  in  some  other  guise ;  but, 
as  it  was,  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  in  stirring  up  this 
subject  which  was  for  the  time  quiescent,  made 
himself  responsible  for  the  conflict  which  fol 
lowed. 

The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  was 
the  beginning  of  the  end.  By  it  the  South  made 
her  last  throw,  and  lost.  It  was  a  desperate  and 
hopeless  attempt  to  break  the  barrier  which  con 
fined  the  slave  power  to  proportions  which  were 
daily  being  outstripped  by  the  North.  There 
was  no  possibility  of  slavery  taking  root  in 
the  newly  opened  country;  climate,  soil,  and  the 
very  configuration  of  the  land  itself  entirely  un- 


ioo  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

fitted  it  for  anything  but  the  energetic  resources 
of  free  labor.  It  was  useless,  as  Daniel  Webster 
had  said,  to  "  reaffirm  an  ordinance  of  Nature, 
or  to  re-enact  the  will  of  God."  Nevertheless, 
the  effect  on  the  North  was  tremendous,  the 
conviction  there  growing  strong  that  the  Union 
and  slavery  could  not  much  longer  exist  to 
gether.  The  expression  of  this  opinion  pro 
ceeded  at  first  from  the  extremists,  but  at  this 
day  it  is  not  the  habit  to  acknowledge  how  ready 
the  abolitionists  were  to  give  utterance  to  dis 
union  sentiments.  On  the  4th  of  July,  1854,  Gar 
rison  publicly  burned  a  copy  of  the  United  States 
Constitution  with  the  words,  "  The  Union  must 
be  dissolved."  Again  he  said,  "  Justice  and  lib 
erty,  God  and  man,  demand  the  dissolution  of 
this  slave-holding  Union,  and  the  formation  of 
a  Northern  confederacy,  in  which  slave-holders 
will  stand  before  the  law  as  felons  and  be  treated 
as  pirates."  In  another  chapter  we  shall  have 
an  opportunity  to  point  out  and  illustrate  the 
fact  that  Northern  antislavery  men  did  a  fair 
share  in  the  work  of  promulgating  the  idea  of 
secession,  just  as  the  Hartford  Convention  fur 
nished  ammunition  for  the  South  Carolina  nulli- 
fiers. 

The  immediate  consequence  of  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Bill  was  that  many  to  whom  slavery 
had  hitherto  been  a  matter  of  indifference  now 
became  opposed  to  it  on  the  ground  that  its 
defenders  were  persistently  putting  the  Union  in 
danger. 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   SLAVERY     101 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  slavery  question, 
which  was  hurrying  the  two  sections  to  the  abyss 
of  war,  now  overshadowed  all  other  political  con 
siderations  and  was  at  the  same  time  the  chief 
line  marking  the  division  of  parties.  In  the 
North  the  words  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence — especially  those  Jefferson  had  borrowed 
from  the  doctrinaire  philosophers  of  revolution 
ary  France,  regarding  natural  law  and  the  equal 
ity  and  brotherhood  of  man — appealed  with  tell 
ing  effect,  just  as  they  had  done  to  the  majority 
of  New  England  men  at  the  time  of  the  adoption 
of  the  Federal  Constitution.  It  was  claimed  by 
them,  moreover,  that  the  Southern  slave-holders 
were  abandoning  their  old  position,  which  had 
been  one  of  defence,  and  in  exchange  therefor 
were  adopting  an  aggressive  attitude  with  the 
object  of  nationalizing  their  institution. 

That  there  was  much  reason  in  this  contention 
becomes  obvious  when  we  recall  the  position  as 
sumed  by  the  South  in  1787,  and  contrast  it  with 
the  policy  that  actuated  the  Southern  leaders 
during  the  quarrel  regarding  Kansas.  Generally 
accepted  in  the  former  period  as  a  local  custom 
ary  institution,  with  no  other  protection  in  the 
free  States  and  elsewhere  than  what  was  ac 
corded  it  by  either  comity  or  treaty,  the  slave 
holders  had  arrived  at  a  point  where  they  un 
dertook  to  argue  that  there  was  no  difference 
between  their  human  chattels  and  any  other 
form  of  property.  This  altered  opinion  had  been 
partly  the  cause  and  partly  the  effect  of  the  series 


102  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

of  events,  in  part  already  discussed  here,  which, 
however  natural,  were  well  calculated  to  deepen 
the  chasm  between  the  sections. 

These  events,  briefly  recapitulating,  were  :  the 
purchase  of  Louisiana;  the  Missouri  Compro 
mise;  the  annexation  of  Texas;  the  war  with 
Mexico  and  the  territorial  acquisitions  resulting 
therefrom;  the  compromise  of  1850;  the  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise;  the  amendment 
of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law ;  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill;  the  extension  of  slavery  to  Territories  like 
Utah  and  New  Mexico;  to  these  we  must  add 
the  various  filibustering  expeditions  fitted  out  by 
"  Southern  annexationists"  against  Cuba  and 
Central  America,  with  the  avowed  purpose  (only 
thwarted  by  threat  of  Federal  interference)  of 
carving  out  new  territory  from  which  to  con 
struct  slave-holding  States;  and,  finally,  an  in 
creasing  demand,  voiced  by  Governor  Adams,  of 
South  Carolina,  in  his  message  to  the  Legislature 
of  1856,  for  the  reopening  of  the  African  slave- 
trade. 

To  the  South,  if  slavery  were  to  continue,  this 
policy  of  extension  was  not  only  natural,  but 
necessary.  It  already  saw  its  rival  far  ahead  of 
it  in  population  and  wealth.  The  future  held  still 
further  gain  for  the  North.  The  public  lands  of 
the  great  Northwest — long  unavailable  for  lack 
of  means  of  communication — were  being  rapidly 
settled  by  busy  and  industrious  immigrants,  who 
were  carried  thither  by  the  lines  of  railway  that 
were  beginning  to  gridiron  the  country;  and  the 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   SLAVERY     103 

construction  of  artificial  waterways  like  the  Erie 
Canal  had  already  laid  the  foundation  of  new 
communities  in  the  region  bordering  the  Great 
Lakes.  Nor  was  the  West  the  only  part  of  the 
country  that  was  thus  rapidly  developing.  The 
opening  up  of  the  coal,  iron,  and  oil  fields  of 
Pennsylvania  was  fast  adding  to  the  richness 
and  population  of  the  Middle  States;  McCor- 
mick's  reaper  and  other  agricultural  implements 
brought  about  the  cultivation  of  lands  in  the 
wheat-growing  portions  of  the  North ;  and  New 
England,  under  the  protection  of  a  high  tariff 
and  with  the  multiplication  of  new  inventions, 
was  from  an  industrial  point  of  view  fast  ap 
proaching  the  social  and  economic  type  of 
manufacturing  Great  Britain. 

The  original  differences  between  the  North 
and  the  South  were  now  heightened  to  a  degree 
they  had  never  before  reached,  for  few  of  the 
great  industrial  forces  were  felt  in  any  marked 
degree  below  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  Slavery 
excluded  them.  The  natural  advantages  of  the 
South  were  unutilized.  Such  resources,  for  ex 
ample,  as  the  rich  coal  and  iron  mines  of  Ten 
nessee  and  Alabama  were  almost  untouched. 
Urban  life,  moreover,  was  becoming  even  more 
sluggish.  It  is  true  that  seaports  like  Charles 
ton,  Savannah,  Mobile,  and  New  Orleans  main 
tained  a  more  or  less  active  trade,  but  the  popu 
lation  was  largely  composed  of  planters  who 
made  these  cities  their  homes  in  winter  and  were 
too  often  but  slightly  interested  in  the  improve- 


104  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

ment  of  community  life,  and  who  were  in  many 
cases  hostile  to  anything  that  might  impel  change 
or  advancement.  In  the  interior  of  the  South 
there  were  numerous  small  towns,  to  be  sure, 
but,  as  a  rule,  they  were  mere  political  and  ad 
ministrative  centres,  whose  inhabitants  consisted 
in  the  main  of  office-holders,  a  few  professional 
men,  some  merchants,  together  with  their  slaves 
and  a  sprinkling  of  lazy,  shiftless,  free  negroes. 
Rural  interests  were  well-nigh  supreme,  and  each 
plantation  was  not  only  a  social  but  an  industrial 
centre,  for  almost  everything  needed  was  pro 
duced  by  the  slaves  themselves. 

Nor  were  the  differences  between  the  sections 
thus  accentuated  only  by  mere  material  agencies. 
In  matters  of  education  there  was  a  vital  differ 
ence  between  the  North  and  the  South,  and  one 
that  in  course  of  time  did  no  little  to  foster  the 
inherited  and  mutual  dislike  of  the  people  of  the 
two  sections.  Town  life  at  the  North — not  to 
speak  of  the  ideals  of  the  people — had  con 
tributed  largely  to  the  creation  and  development 
of  a  system  of  education  far  superior  to  that  pos 
sible  to  agricultural  communities  Free  schools 
had  multiplied  and  finally  attained  to  a  degree 
of  efficiency  that  did  much  to  raise  the  level  of 
general  intelligence,  while  numerous  colleges  and 
universities  aided  in  the  work  of  advancing  the 
cause  of  civilization  and  enlightenment.  Not  so 
with  the  South,  whose  entire  social  constitution 
was  in  every  manner  calculated  to  hinder  the 
growth  of  general  culture.  It  is  true  that  there 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   SLAVERY     105 

were  Southern  people  whose  critical  tastes  could 
be  said  even  to  surpass  those  of  Northern  citi 
zens,  and  there  were  not  a  few  notable  private 
libraries.  At  the  same  time,  the  fact  cannot  be 
disguised  that  there  were  few  Southern  authors 
of  note;  and  when  readers  desired  books  they 
sought  them  rather  in  England  and  France  than 
at  the  North,  whose  literary  productions  were 
increasingly  crowded  with  attacks  upon  slavery. 
Thus  the  two  peoples  often  thought  differently 
because  they  did  not  read  the  same  things. 
Meanwhile,  in  the  domain  of  higher  education 
there  was  every  whit  as  much  variance.  State 
universities  like  those  supported  by  Virginia, 
the  Carolinas,  Georgia,  Alabama,  and  Missis 
sippi  were  admirable  so  far  as  they  went.  In 
deed,  in  some  instances  their  courses  of  instruc 
tion  will  bear  very  favorable  comparison  with 
those  provided  by  the  Northern  institutions  of 
learning,  while  more  than  one  professor  at  such 
colleges  as  those  maintained  by  Virginia  and 
the  Carolinas  won  universal  esteem  by  reason 
of  his  culture  and  learning.  Notwithstanding 
these  facts,  however,  the  education  thus  im 
parted  was  little  calculated  to  develop  catho 
licity  of  thought. 

The  students,  as  a  rule,  met  men  from  their 
own  States  who  thought  and  acted  as  they  them 
selves  did.  It  is  true,  many  young  men  of  the 
South  went  abroad,  as  well  as  to  such  Northern 
institutions  as  Harvard,  Yale,  and  Princeton. 
But  this  custom  began  gradually  to  decline,  as 


106  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

the  discussion  of  the  slavery  question  forced  itself 
into  the  intimate  life  of  the  people,  and  students 
preferred  to  remain  at  home,  where  their  feelings 
would  not  be  irritated  by  attacks  upon  their  sec 
tion  and  its  institutions.  Thus  we  find  a  line  of 
demarcation  in  the  educational  life  of  the  period. 

A  similar  line  of  cleavage  took  place  between 
the  religious  organizations  of  the  country.  The 
members  of  great  bodies  like  the  Methodist 
Conference,  the  Presbyterian  Assembly,  and  the 
Baptist  Convention  found  it  impossible  to  harmo 
nize,  and  separated  into  Northern  and  Southern 
bodies,  over  the  slavery  question.  Hence  men 
who  had  theretofore  met  annually  or  less  fre 
quently  in  national  meetings  became  estranged 
from  one  another. 

Of  political  controversies  much  has  been  said 
already.  That  these  should  have  increased  in 
virulence  as  time  went  on,  and  slavery  ceased  to 
remain  a  local  and  moral  issue  and  became  in 
stead  a  political  and  national  question,  was  nat 
ural.  It  was  slavery,  for  example,  that  slowly 
produced  a  great  political  party  almost  wholly 
composed  of  Northern  men  and  directed  to  the 
denationalization,  if  not  to  the  uttermost  over 
throw,  of  the  institution.  How  this  came  about 
is  indisputable,  yet  it  may  not  be  out  of  place 
briefly  to  trace  here  the  formation  of  Northern 
opinion  as  the  advocates  of  slavery  extension 
grew  bolder  and  bolder  in  their  efforts  to  retain 
and  strengthen  their  power. 

To  do  this  will  require  us  to  add  something 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF    SLAVERY     107 

more  to  what  has  been  previously  said  on  the 
tariff,  which  was  a  potent  factor  in  swelling  the 
number  of  agencies  at  work  in  bringing  about 
the  war  between  the  sections.  Hence  it  may  be 
well  to  speak  now  of  the  latter  phase  of  the 
subject. 

The  so-called  "  era  of  good  feeling"  that  set 
in  with  the  Presidency  of  Monroe  and  the  enun 
ciation  of  the  policy  that  has  been  associated 
with  his  name  was  one  largely  swayed  by  per 
sonal  and  factional  considerations  rather  than  by 
those  larger  political  conceptions  which  are  sup 
posed  to  guide  the  conduct  of  thoroughly  organ 
ized  parties. 

Because  of  its  behavior  during  our  second 
struggle  with  Great  Britain,  the  old  Federal  party 
had  committed  suicide.  Now  and  then,  to  be 
sure,  it  gave  fitful  exhibitions  of  returning  vital 
ity,  but  these,  by  its  enemies,  at  least,  were  re 
garded  more  in  the  light  of  the  spasms  of  a 
reptile  whose  head  had  been  crushed  than  as 
the  threat  of  a  restoration  to  life.  At  first 
there  was  nothing  to  take  its  place.  The  old 
Democratic-Republican  party  of  Jefferson  alone 
maintained  its  existence.  It  is  true,  a  group 
of  young  men  like  Calhoun,  Clay,  and  others 
already  gave  evidence  of  a  trend  towards  na 
tional  aspirations  that  was  very  far  from  the 
doctrines  of  the  orthodox  Jeffersonian  school; 
but  they  still  gave  their  loyal  adherence  to  the 
party  in  spite  of  their  support  of  the  bill  re- 
chartering  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  and 


toS  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

their  endorsement  of  the  Tariff  Act  of  1816. 
But  as  the  disposition  not  only  to  maintain  but 
to  raise  the  tariff  manifested  itself,  as  well  as 
a  spirit  of  national  activity  looking  to  increasing- 
expenditure  for  internal  improvements,  the 
Democratic  factions  began  to  ripen  into  parties, 
and  sectionalism  to  lift  its  head  in  a  new  direc 
tion. 

At  first  in  sympathy  both  with  the  policy  of 
protecting  infant  industries  and  that  implying 
so  liberal  an  interpretation  of  the  Constitution 
as  to  sanction  the  improvement  by  national 
agencies  of  highways,  canals,  and  harbors,  the 
South  soon  began  to  recede  from  a  policy  which 
apparently  enriched  the  North  without  giving 
herself  any  proportionate  return.  With  the  elec 
tion,  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  of  the 
second  Adams  to  the  Presidency,  the  altered  sit 
uation  had  become  sufficiently  marked  to  attract 
attention.  In  the  first  place,  Adams  received  but 
slight  support  in  the  South;  secondly,  he  was 
elected  by  Clay's  casting  the  tie  vote  in  his  favor. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  that  alliance  between 
the  North  and  the  West  which  during  the  Civil 
War  was  destined  to  disappoint  the  South  in  all 
its  hopes  towards  the  securing  of  Western  as 
sistance,  or,  at  least,  indifference.  Leadership, 
moreover,  both  North  and  South  passed  through 
a  shifting  process  of  unusual  importance.  As 
Monroe  had  been  the  last  President  of  the  Old 
Virginia  type,  so  Adams  marked  the  end  of  New 
England's  hegemony.  To  the  West  the  North 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF    SLAVERY     109 

was  henceforth  to  look  for  her  leadership,  while, 
at  the  same  time,  Virginia,  partly  by  reason  of 
her  new  Constitution  widening  the  franchise, 
partly  because  of  the  development  of  the  lower 
South,  was  forced  to  abdicate  in  favor  of  South 
Carolina  and  the  Gulf  States. 

One  of  the  earliest  results  of  this  altered  state 
of  things  was  the  birth  of  the  Whig  party,  whose 
principles  were  largely  represented  by  Clay's 
"  American  System,"  with  a  large  share  of  the 
Federal  party's  ideas  of  a  loose  construction  of 
the  Constitution.  The  party,  despite  its  lean 
ings,  soon  found  a  number  of  warm  Southern 
supporters. 

Committed  to  the  policy  of  protection,  the 
Whigs  were  responsible  for  the  "Tariff  of  Abom 
inations"  of  1828,  that  resulted  in  the  nullifica 
tion  movement  in  South  Carolina,  and  what  was, 
in  point  of  fact,  the  first  germ  of  the  Civil  War. 
The  Whig  party  was  opposed  by  the  Democrats, 
then,  as  usual,  divided  into  hostile  factions.  Its 
Southern  members,  moreover,  were  in  favor  of 
slavery,  opposed  to  the  tariff,  and,  as  a  rule,  op 
posed  to  the  bank.  To  this  Southern  wing  the 
party  owed  its  final  destruction  when  the  slavery 
question  dominated  every  other  political  subject. 

The  South  naturally  looked  upon  England  as 
its  best  market.  There  it  could  buy  at  reason 
able  prices  the  necessaries  and  luxuries  of  life, 
and  at  the  same  time  find  an  excellent  opportu 
nity  to  dispose  of  Southern  products.  After  the 
repeal  of  the  British  Corn  Laws  and  the  increased 


no  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

activity  of  commerce  brought  about  by  this 
change  of  policy,  English  manufacturing  indus 
tries  took  on  a  new  lease  of  life,  from  which  all 
parts  of  the  world  reaped  advantages,  but  few 
more  so  than  the  Southern  States.  What  was1 
more  natural,  therefore,  than  that  they  should 
embrace  with  enthusiasm  Peel's  doctrines  of  free 
trade,  and  view  England  with  friendlier  eyes  than 
they  did  the  North?  Was  not  the  tariff  a  direct 
blow  at  the  commercial  interests  of  the  Southern 
States?  Depending  as  they  did  on  commerce 
in  its  largest  sense,  they  now  found  that  interest 
shattered  in  pieces  for  the  welfare  of  a  section 
already  threatening  the  horrors  of  a  servile  war. 

Above  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  there  was  a 
lack  of  that  unanimity  of  opinion  that  prevailed 
so  widely  south  of  it.  Politically  speaking,  there 
were,  in  the  first  place,  the  Democrats  who  were 
disposed  to  adopt  Southern  views  out  and  out 
and  those  members  of  the  same  party  who  were 
heartily  sick  of  their  Southern  friends.  Arrayed 
against  this  organization  was  the  Whig  party; 
it,  too,  was  disposed  to  wink  at  slavery  in  order 
to  obtain  Southern  support.  Added  to  these  was 
the  abolitionist  party,  composed  of  two  factions, 
conservative  and  liberal;  the  one  opposed  to 
slavery  extension  but  unwilling  to  disturb  its  con 
tinuance  at  the  South;  the  other  unreservedly 
committed  either  to  the  extinction  of  slavery  or 
the  dissolution  of  the  Union. 

In  the  North  at  this  time  there  were  abolition 
ists,  Free-soilers,  antislavery  Whigs,  and  anti- 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   SLAVERY     in 

Nebraska  Democrats,  as  well  as  minor  groups. 
The  Whig  party  went  to  pieces  on  the  rock  of 
the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  and  the  new  Repub 
lican  party  took  its  place.  This  was  destined  to 
develop  into  a  mighty  force,  which,  in  the  armed 
contention  of  the  nation,  was  to  demolish  slavery 
itself.  From  the  start  its  policy  was  sectional 
rather  than  national, — a  party  desiring  no  en 
tangling  Southern  alliance  to  cripple  it  as  the 
Whigs  had  been  crippled.  The  advent  of  the 
Republican  party  definitely  arrayed  the  North 
against  the  South.  No  Southern  wing  hampered 
this  new  organization;  and  from  the  first  its 
object  was  confessedly  the  overthrow  of  the  slave 
power. 


KANSAS BUCHANAN  S   ADMINISTRATION 

"BLEEDING  KANSAS"  was  both  a  premonition 
and  an  immediate  cause  of  the  blood-shedding 
into  which  the  strife  between  the  sections  was 
soon  to  develop.  The  South  was  not  directly  re 
sponsible  for  the  movement  to  repeal  the  Mis 
souri  Compromise,  but  she  gladly  hailed  the 
measure  as  a  means  of  extending  her  power. 
Never  was  there  greater  lack  of  political  fore 
sight.  Had  the  South  been  contented  with  the 
territory  south  of  36°  30',  the  overthrow  of 
her  institution  might  have  been  a  much  slower 
process,  and  accomplished  peaceably  and  with 
satisfaction  based  upon  due  compensation.  The 
marvel  is  that  the  Southern  statesmen  did  not 
clearly  perceive  that  the  North  had  become  not 
only  too  strong  for  them,  but  also  too  greatly 
dominated  by  antislavery  principles  to  relinquish 
the  least  portion  of  the  public  domain  to  slave- 
holding  control.  The  opinion  is  here  ventured 
that  the  leaders  of  the  Southern  people  must 
have  seen  it.  It  seems  evident  that,  resting  on 
what  they  believed  to  be  their  constitutional 
right,  they  were  determined  to  push,  if  neces 
sary,  the  issue  of  slavery  to  the  point  of  secession. 
At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  added  that  among 

112 


KANSAS— BUCHANAN'S   ADMINISTRATION    113 

the  larger  slave-holders,  as  opposed  to  mere 
politicians,  there  was  a  decided  opposition  to 
the  secession  movement.  The  conservatism  of 
wealth  in  both  the  North  and  the  South  strove 
to  preserve  the  status  quo. 

But  Kansas  seemed  to  afford  a  chance  for 
Southern  expansion.  The  South  threw,  and  lost  ; 
for  the  dice,  so  to  speak,  were  heavily  loaded  in 
favor  of  the  North.  From  this  time  forward  the 
controversy  takes  a  new  form.  It  is  no  longer  a 
legal  and  constitutional  argument,  a  Congres 
sional  debate,  or  even  a  manoeuvring  for  the  pas 
sage  of  laws ;  it  is  an  open  quarrel,  with  deeds  of 
violence  becoming  steadily  more  frequent;  skir 
mishes  between  the  pickets  of  armies  marching 
rapidly  to  meet  each  other. 

Kansas  was  in  a  virtual  state  of  war.  There 
"  Border  Ruffians"  from  Missouri  and  "  Free 
State  Settlers"  from  the  North  carried  on  a 
course  of  violence  in  which  arson  and  assassina 
tion  were  incidents  of  daily  occurrence.  Such 
was  the  extent  of  these  outrages  that  a  conserva 
tive  estimate  thus  enumerates  their  effects: 
value  of  crops  destroyed,  $37,349;  number  of 
buildings  burned  and  destroyed,  78;  horses 
taken  or  destroyed,  368;  cattle  taken  or  de 
stroyed,  533;  property  taken  or  destroyed  by 
pro-slavery  men,  $318,718;  by  free  State  men, 
$94,529.  Over  two  hundred  lives  were  lost,  and 
the  expeditions  to  Kansas  cost  over  two  million 
dollars.  The  Territory  was  divided,  in  accord 
ance  with  the  views  of  the  settlers,  into  two  dis- 

8 


ii4  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

tricts,  each  vying  with  the  other  in  the  perpetra 
tion  of  every  species  of  outrage.  The  pro-slavery 
men  gathered  around  Leavenworth  and  Lecomp- 
ton,  where  they  held  conventions  and  formulated 
a  State  constitution,  while  the  free-State  people 
met  at  Topeka  and  Lawrence  and  put  into  opera 
tion  rival  political  machinery,  neither  party  rec 
ognizing  the  legislative  performances  of  the 
other. 

The  New  York  Times  said,  "  The  question  of 
slavery  domination  must  and  will  be  fought  out 
on  the  plains  of  Kansas."  This  was  the  feeling 
both  North  and  South.  Accordingly,  in  sending 
out  men  each  section  was  careful  to  see  that  they 
were  well  armed.  Some  of  the  contingents  from 
both  sections  were  equipped  with  Bibles,  but  it 
is  difficult  to  see  that  they  had  any  effect  what 
soever  on  the  dispute  in  Kansas  or  the  manner 
in  which  it  was  carried  on.  A  remarkable  scene 
was  enacted  in  Connecticut,  at  New  Haven, 
where  Deacon  Lines  had  raised  a  company  of 
seventy-nine  emigrants.  Before  their  depart 
ure,  a  mass  meeting  was  held,  in  a  church,  for 
the  purpose  of  raising  funds  for  their  equipment. 
There  were  present  many  eminent  clergymen, 
and  of  Yale  professors  not  a  few.  Henry  Ward 
Beecher,  who  was  afterwards  to  do  a  far  better 
service  for  the  Union  by  his  mission  to  England, 
made  a  stirring  address.  Then  Professor  Still- 
man  started  the  subscription  with  one  Sharp's 
rifle ;  others,  including  the  pastor  of  the  church, 
followed.  Beecher  announced  that  if  twenty-five 


KANSAS— BUCHANAN' S  ADMINISTRATION     1 1 5 

rifles  were  subscribed  on  the  spot,  his  church 
would  duplicate  the  number.  He  had  already 
expressed  his  opinion  that  for  the  slave-holders 
of  Kansas  the  rifle  was  a  more  effective  moral 
agency  than  the  Bible;  consequently,  from  that 
time  on  Sharp's  rifle  was  popularly  known  as 
"Beecher's  Bible."  This  incident  fairly  illus 
trates  the  spirit  in  which  the  North  met  the 
Kansas  troubles. 

The  Southern  method  was  no  less  strenuous. 
The  pro-slavery  men  had  an  advantage  in  that 
they  were  favored  by  the  Administration  in 
Washington.  The  Territorial  officers  were  all 
of  this  party.  That  they  did  not  fail  to  take  ad 
vantage  of  their  power — and  that  to  the  utmost 
limit — is  illustrated  in  the  destruction  of  Law 
rence.  Sheriff  Jones,  during  an  attempt  to  arrest 
a  free-State  man  in  that  town,  was  wounded. 
The  pro-slavery  men  were  immeasurably  in 
censed,  and  demanded  that  the  abolition  town  be 
wiped  out  of  existence.  A  legal  pretext  for  at 
tacking  the  place  was  sought. 

The  Territorial  Legislature  had  passed  laws 
which  inflicted  the  death  penalty  upon  those  who 
committed  certain  acts  prejudicial  to  slavery. 
Even  to  speak,  write,  or  print  matter  by  which 
slaves  might  be  advised  or  induced  to  rebel  was 
a  capital  crime.  In  accordance  with  these  enact 
ments,  Judge  Lecompte,  the  chief  justice  of  the 
Territory  and  an  ardent  pro-slavery  man,  enun 
ciated  his  doctrine  of  Constructive  Treason.  In 
charging  the  grand  jury  at  Lecompton,  he  ruled 


n6  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

that  to  resist  such  laws  was  equal  to  treason 
against  the  United  States.    He  said : 

"  If  you  find  that  no  such  resistance  has  been  made,  but 
that  combinations  have  been  formed  for  the  purpose  of  re 
sisting  them,  and  that  individuals  of  influence  and  notoriety 
have  been  aiding  and  abetting  in  such  combinations,  then 
must  you  find  bills  for  constructive  treason." 

Accordingly,  this  grand  jury,  in  addition  to 
indicting  prominent  free-State  leaders  for  trea 
son,  recommended  the  abatement  as  nuisances 
of  newspapers  published  at  Lawrence. 

Marshal  Donaldson,  in  May,  1856,  issued  a 
proclamation  to  the  people  of  Kansas,  an 
nouncing  that  he  had  certain  writs  to  execute  at 
Lawrence,  and  that  as  previously  his  deputy 
(Jones)  had  been  opposed  in  the  execution  of 
justice,  he  had  every  reason  to  believe  that  on 
this  occasion  he  would  likewise  be  resisted  by. 
a  large  and  armed  force.  Therefore  all  law- 
abiding  citizens  were  commanded  to  appear  at 
Lecompton  in  order  to  aid  in  the  due  execution 
of  the  law.  Pro-slavery  men — otherwise  desig 
nated  as  "  law-abiding  citizens" — appeared  in 
ample  force. 

These  men,  so  flatteringly  designated,  com 
prised  the  marshal's  posse.  There  were  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  of  them,  and,  to  state  the 
fact  moderately,  they  were  a  gang  of  ruffians. 
Armed  with  rifles  and  five  pieces  of  artillery, 
they  took  a  position  on  the  bluffs  which  from 
the  West  commanded  the  town.  The  inhabi 
tants  of  Lawrence  were  not  prepared  to  resist 


KANSAS— BUCHANAN'S  ADMINISTRATION    117 

such  a  force.  Right  was  on  their  side,  though 
they  were  law-breakers;  but  it  was  an  instance 
in  which  "  the  heaviest  battalions"  prevailed  in 
dependent  of  the  justice  of  the  cause.  Donald 
son,  after  making  some  arrests,  turned  the  posse 
over  to  Jones,  the  sheriff  of  Douglas  County, 
with  the  avouchment,  "  He  is  a  law-and-order 
man,  and  acts  under  the  same  authority  as  the 
marshal."  Jones  immediately  proceeded  to  ex 
emplify  his  idea  of  law  and  order.  The  men  were 
marched  into  the  town  with  banners  flying.  One 
of  these  was  ornamented  with  the  inscription : 

"  Let  Yankees  tremble,  abolitionists  fall  ; 
Our  motto  is,  Give  Southern  rights  to  all." 

The  first  objects  of  this  disciplinary  visitation 
were  the  offices  of  the  offending  free-State  news 
papers.  These  were  quickly  destroyed,  presses, 
type,  books,  and  all.  The  sheriff  also  had  a  writ 
against  the  large  stone  hotel  which  had  just  been 
erected  and  was  the  pride  of  the  town.  The  exe 
cution  of  this  writ  gave  him  a  welcome  oppor 
tunity  to  test  the  mettle  of  his  artillery.  But  the 
walls  being  proof  against  the  balls,  the  torch 
was  applied  to  the  edifice,  and  it  was  burnt  to 
the  ground — not  until  the  wines  and  liquors  it 
contained  were  first  preserved  for  immediate  use. 
Under  the  influence  of  these,  and  unsubmissive 
to  the  control  of  Buford  and  Atchison,  who  coun 
selled  against  the  destruction  of  property,  the 
posse  sacked  the  town  and  set  fire  to  Governor 
Robinson's  house.  In  one  project,  however,  they 


n8  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

did  not  succeed.  They  failed  to  get  possession 
of  the  Sharp's  rifles  which  were  in  the  hands  of 
Pomeroy,  the  representative  of  the  Emigrant 
Aid  Company.  These  were  retained  by  the  free- 
State  men  for  future  and  effective  use. 

This,  though  a  victory  for  slavery  in  Kansas, 
only  served  to  strengthen  and  crystallize  the 
Northern  antagonism  to  that  institution.  It 
made  Republicans. 

But  the  outrages  in  the  Territory  were  not  all 
perpetrated  by  the  pro-slavery  rrien.  In  fact,  if 
careful  investigation  is  made  with  such  evidence 
as  is  available  and  trustworthy,  it  will  be  found 
that  dishonors  were  not  far  from  being  even  be 
tween  the  two  parties.  In  1857  the  retiring  gov 
ernor  of  Kansas  said  truly : 

"  Desolation  and  ruin  reigned  on  every  hand ;  homes  and 
firesides  were  deserted ;  the  smoke  of  burning  dwellings 
darkened  the  atmosphere ;  women  and  children,  driven 
from  habitations,  wandered  over  the  prairies  and  among 
the  woodlands,  or  sought  refuge  among  the  Indian  tribes. 
The  highways  were  infested  with  numerous  predatory 
bands,  and  the  towns  were  fortified  and  garrisoned  by 
armies  of  conflicting  partisans,  each  excited  almost  to 
frenzy,  and  determined  upon  mutual  extermination." 

In  the  annals  of  crime  we  can  learn  of  no  deed 
more  atrocious  than  that  laid  to  the  charge  of 
the  demented  agitator  John  Brown,  later  of  Har 
per's  Ferry  infamy,  and  afterwards  canonized  by 
public  opinion  at  the  North.  After  the  destruc 
tion  of  Lawrence,  Brown  determined  to  expiate 
the  blood  of  five  free-State  men  who  had  been 
killed  since  the  beginning  of  the  troubles.  He 


KANSAS— BUCHANAN'S  ADMINISTRATION     119 

called  together  his  four  sons,  a  son-in-law,  and 
two  neighbors,  to  whom  he  had  made  known  his 
determination  to  put  to  the  sword  all  the  pro- 
slavery  men  living  on  the  Pottawatomie.  To  the 
objection  of  one  of  them  he  replied,  "  I  have  no 
choice.  It  has  been  decreed  by  Almighty  God, 
ordained  from  eternity,  that  I  should  make  an 
example  of  these  men."  Brown  and  his  party 
went  out  one  night,  and  coming  to  the  house  of 
Boyle,  one  of  the  proscribed  men,  compelled 
him  and  one  of  his  sons  to  go  with  them.  What 
followed  is  indicated  by  the  evidence,  given  un 
der  oath,  of  a  surviving  son : 

"  I  found  my  father  and  one  brother,  William,  lying  dead 
in  the  road,  about  two  hundred  yards  from  the  house.  I 
saw  my  other  brother  lying  dead  on  the  ground,  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the  house,  in  the  grass,  near 
a  ravine;  his  fingers  were  cut  off  and  his  arms  were  cut 
off;  there  was  a  hole  in  his  breast.  William's  head  was 
cut  open  and  a  hole  was  in  his  jaw  as  though  it  was  made 
by  a  knife;  and  a  hole  was  also  in  his  side.  My  father 
was  shot  in  the  forehead  and  stabbed  in  the  breast." 

John  Brown  and  his  band  then  went  to  the 
house  of  another  settler  named  Wilkinson.  De 
spite  the  pleading  of  his  sick  and  helpless  wife, 
they  compelled  him  to  go  with  them.  In  the 
morning  he  also  was  found  dead.  William  Sher 
man  made  up  the  number  of  the  five.  In  nearly 
all  the  accounts  of  the  life  of  John  Brown  this 
incident  is  either  slurred  over,  or  extenuated  by 
the  conditions  which  then  obtained  in  Kansas,  or 
excused  by  Brown's  principles.  But  in  any  true 
history  it  can  be  regarded  only  as  one  of  the 


120  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

most  atrocious,  cold-blooded,  cowardly  murders 
that  have  blotted  the  history  of  the  United 
States. 

The  troubles  in  Kansas  had  a  great  effect  on 
the  Presidential  election.  Though  the  result 
was  not  the  triumph  of  the  free  State  candidate, 
the  Republican  party  came  astonishingly  to 
the  fore,  and  was  given  strong  hope  of  victory 
in  the  next  Presidential  campaign.  The  elec 
tion,  in  1856,  of  Nathaniel  T.  Banks,  of  Massa 
chusetts,  on  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-third 
ballot,  to  the  Speakership  of  the  House  stimu 
lated  the  Republicans.  They  saw  that  Southern 
ascendency  in  Congress  was  doomed,  and  were 
encouraged  to  bend  every  energy  to  capture  the 
executive  branch  of  the  government. 

Prejudices  ran  high  during  these  years  of  ex 
citement  and  passion.  Men  were  often  quite  as 
much  enraged  by  hatred  of  the  Southern  slave 
holders  as  by  any  love  of  the  blacks,  for  whom, 
in  many  respects,  the  Southerners  really  had  a 
higher  regard.  As  Carlyle  bluntly  put  it,  the 
South  said  to  the  negro,  " l  God  bless  you  and 
be  a  slave;  the  North,  'God  d — n  you  and  be 
a  freeman.' '  In  many  a  Northern  heart,  more 
over,  there  was  jealousy,  that  consumer  of  the 
fairest  of  ideals.  At  the  South  there  grew  up  a 
scarcely  less  noxious  product.  It  was  hatred. 

Nothing  so  strikingly  illustrates  the  height  of 
sectional  animosity  as  the  personal  assault  on 
Charles  Sumner  by  Brooks,  of  South  Carolina. 
Sumner's  ability  placed  him  in  the  foremost  rank 


KANSAS— BUCHANAN'S  ADMINISTRATION     121 

of  the  leading  spirits  of  his  time,  his  conscious 
ness  of  that  ability  endued  him  with  a  self-confi 
dence  which  never  failed.  He  had  a  highly 
wrought  moral  sense,  leading  him  to  devote  him 
self  to  the  benefit  of  his  country  and  the  uplifting 
of  the  enslaved  race;  but  it  did  not  include  a 
quick  sense  of  the  courtesy  due  to  those  who  dif 
fered  from  him  in  opinion.  Consequently  he  was 
a  man  who  made  many  enemies;  indeed,  it  has 
been  said  of  him  that  at  the  period  of  the  con 
troversies  before  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  was 
the  most  hated  man  in  Washington.  Possessed 
of  indomitable  courage,  he  made  no  attempt  to 
mollify  this  enmity.  Indeed,  his  public  addresses 
were  ultrasensational  and  characterized  more  by 
invective  than  by  argument.  On  the  iQth  and 
2Oth  of  May,  1856,  Sumner  had  delivered  his 
famous  speech  on  "  The  Crime  against  Kansas." 
It  was  a  needlessly  bitter  attack  on  South  Caro 
lina,  one  of  those  speeches  frequently  delivered 
by  Northern  men  to  make  political  capital,  and 
naturally  calculated  to  goad  the  South  to  mad 
ness  and  thus  defeat  the  very  object  which  the 
speakers  professed  to  be  seeking.  Moreover, 
Sumner's  address  contained  insulting  allusions  to 
Senator  Butler,  who  was  a  relative  of  Brooks. 
Seward,  who  read  the  speech  previous  to  its  de 
livery,  strongly  advised  the  elimination  of  some 
of  its  expressions.  But  Sumner  was  not  fully 
"  conscious  of  the  stinging  force  of  his  language." 
The  story  is  well  known, — how  Brooks  attacked 
Sumner  while  the  latter  was  writing  letters  at  his 


122  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

desk  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  and  with  a  walking- 
cane  rained  upon  his  head  blows  that  would  have 
resulted  in  the  death  of  a  man  of  weaker  consti 
tution.  From  the  effects  of  this  assault  Sumner 
never  fully  recovered. 

The  South  approved  of  the  attack.  It  lauded 
Brooks  and  eulogized  his  action.  The  North,  on 
the  contrary,  seemed  to  lack  words  to  express 
the  bitterness  of  its  detestation  and  resentment. 
Congress  did  not  expel  Brooks,  but,  sure  of  a 
triumphant  re-election,  he  defied  the  House  and 
resigned  from  it.  He  was  well-nigh  unanimously 
returned  to  his  seat  by  his  district. 

This  assault  has  been  made  altogether  too 
much  of  by  our  historians.  It  carried  no  deep 
political  significance.  It  was  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  the  ebullition  of  passion  intensified  by 
sectional  feelings.  It  was  strictly  personal  and 
had  little  or  no  connection  with  matters  of  state 
craft. 

It  is  remarkable  that  in  1856  all  parties  drew 
their  candidates  from  the  North.  The  South 
would  have  preferred  the  re-election  of  Pierce 
or  the  election  of  Douglas  as  its  second  choice. 
But  both  these  men  had  estranged  the  members 
of  the  Northern  Democracy.  The  only  avail 
able  candidate  was  Buchanan.  Fortunately  for 
himself,  he  had  been  serving  the  country  as  Am 
bassador  to  England  while  the  Missouri  Com 
promise  was  being  repealed  and  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Bill  passed.  Consequently,  in  regard 
to  both  these  measures  he  could  prove  an  alibi. 


KANSAS— BUCHANAN'S  ADMINISTRATION     123 

It  was  found  on  examination  that  he  had  never 
given  a  vote  "  against  the  interests  of  slavery, 
and  never  uttered  a  word  which  could  pain  the 
most  sensitive  Southern  heart."  He  satisfied  the 
South,  promising  that  the  aim  of  his  administra 
tion  should  be  to  settle  the  slavery  question  in 
such  a  manner  that  the  Union  might  be  pre 
served  and  Southern  interests  amply  guarded. 
"  If,"  said  he,  "  I  can  be  instrumental  in  settling 
the  slavery  question  on  the  terms  I  have  named, 
and  then  add  Cuba  to  the  Union,  I  shall,  if  Presi 
dent,  be  willing  to  give  up  the  ghost  and  let 
Breckinridge  take  the  government."  The  North 
was  even  more  satisfied  with  the  Democratic 
candidate;  he  was  supposed  to  view  the  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise  with  disfavor. 

This  Presidential  campaign  (1856)  showed  a 
striking  disintegration  and  re-formation  of  polit 
ical  parties.  There  were  four  political  organiza 
tions  before  the  people, — a  small  remnant  of  the 
Whigs,  the  Know-Nothings,  Democrats  North 
and  South,  and  the  new  Republican  party.  The 
Whigs  and  the  Know-Nothings  combined  in  the 
nomination  of  Millard  Fillmore.  The  Republi 
can  party,  though  only  four  years  of  age,  was 
yet  sturdy  enough  to  challenge  the  South  and 
the  Northern  Democracy.  Their  nomination  was 
governed  entirely  by  availability.  John  C.  Fre 
mont's  picturesque  character  and  career  were 
relied  upon  as  qualities  sufficient  for  a  Presiden 
tial  candidate.  But  so  far  as  the  Republicans 
were  concerned,  this  was  pre-eminently  a  cam- 


i24  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

paign  for  principles  rather  than  for  the  man. 
Fremont  was  chosen  solely  because  he  was  pop 
ular  and  had  made  no  enemies.  They  were  de 
cisive,  however,  in  their  platform,  which  declared 
it  to  be  "both  the  right  and  the  duty  of  Con 
gress  to  prohibit  in  the  Territories  those  twin 
relics  of  barbarism,  polygamy  and  slavery." 

The  Republican  party  was  absolutely  sec 
tional  ;  and  undoubtedly  for  this  reason  many  in 
the  North,  who  otherwise  were  not  unfavorable 
to  its  principles,  dared  not  endanger  the  Union 
by  giving  it  their  support.  To  these  Fillmore 
effectively  appealed  when  he  said : 

"  We  see  a  political  party  presenting  candidates  for  the 
Presidency  and  the  Vice-Presidency  selected  for  the  first 
time  from  the  free  States  alone,  with  the  avowed  purpose 
of  electing  these  candidates  by  suffragists  from  one  part  of 
the  Union  only,  to  rule  over  the  whole  of  the  United 
States. 

"  Can  it  be  possible  that  those  who  are  engaged  in  such 
a  measure  can  have  seriously  reflected  on  the  consequences 
which  must  inevitably  follow  in  case  of  success  ?  Can  they 
have  the  madness  or  the  folly  to  believe  that  our  Southern 
brethren  would  submit  to  be  governed  by  such  a  chief 
magistrate?  Would  he  be  required  to  follow  the  same  rule 
prescribed  by  those  who  elected  him  in  making  his  ap 
pointments?  If  a  man  living  South  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line  be  not  worthy  to  be  President  or  Vice-President,  would 
it  be  proper  to  select  one  from  the  same  quarter  as  one 
of  his  Cabinet  council,  or  to  represent  the  nation  in  a 
foreign  country,  or,  indeed,  to  collect  the  revenue,  or  ad 
minister  the  laws  of  the  United  States?  .  .  .  Therefore  you 
must  see  that  if  this  sectional  party  succeeds,  it  leads  in 
evitably  to  the  destruction  of  this  beautiful  fabric  reared 
by  our  forefathers,  cemented  by  their  blood  and  bequeathed 
to  us  as  a  priceless  inheritance. 

"  I   tell   you,   my   friends,   that   I    speak   warmly   on   this 


KANSAS— BUCK ANAN'  S  ADMINISTRATION     1 2  5 

subject,  for  I  feel  that  we  are  in  danger.  I  am  determined 
to  make  a  clean  breast  of  it.  I  will  wash  my  hands  of  the 
consequences,  whatever  they  may  be ;  and  I  tell  you  that 
we  are  treading  on  the  brink  of  a  volcano  that  is  liable 
at  any  moment  to  burst  forth  and  overwhelm  the  nation." 

This  feeling  of  imminent  danger  prevailed 
among  the  conservative  men  of  the  North  and 
was  justified  by  the  bitterness  with  which  the 
possibility  of  a  sectional  government  was  re 
garded  by  the  South.  Southern  men  were  not 
slow  to  declare  with  approval  their  belief  that 
Republican  victory  would  result  in  immediate 
disunion. 

This  was  met  by  expressions  of  equal  intoler 
ance  and  what  was  later  called  "  treason"  on  the 
part  of  abolitionists  in  the  North.  So  promi 
nent  a  man  as  Horace  Greeley  is  reported  to  have 
said,  "  I  have  no  doubt  but  the  free  and  the  slave 
States  ought  to  be  separated.  .  .  .  The  Union 
is  not  worth  supporting  in  connection  with  the 
South."  Such  declarations  as  that  made  by  one 
Hurlburt,  a  lawyer  in  Herkimer,  New  York,  were 
common :  "  Rather  than  admit  another  slave 
State  into  the  confederacy  I  would  dissolve  it. 
Rather  than  endure  the  curse  of  another  four 
years  of  governmental  infamy  as  that  Pierce, 
Douglas  &  Co.  have  inflicted  upon  us,  I  would 
dissolve  it,  so  help  me  Heaven." 

The  result  of  the  election  was :  Popular  vote 
for  Buchanan,  1,838,169;  Fremont,  1,341,264; 
Fillmore,  864,534;  electoral  vote:  Democrats, 
174;  Republicans,  114;  Know-Nothings  and 


126  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

Whigs,  8.  Thus  James  Buchanan  became  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  March  4,  1857.  ^  '1S 
noteworthy  that  a  bare  twelve  hundred  Republi 
can  votes  were  cast  in  all  the  Southern  States. 
It  was  the  Republican  party  against  the  South. 
The  North  was  now  beginning  to  "  press  the 
issue."  The  South  was  thrown  upon  its  defence. 
Immediately  after  President  Buchanan's  inau 
guration  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
rendered  its  memorable  decision  in  the  case  of 
Dred  Scott  (March  6,  1857).  This  negro,  the 
property  of  a  surgeon  of  the  army,  had  been 
taken  by  his  master  to  the  military  post  at  Rock 
Island,  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  where  he  resided 
as  a  slave  until  May,  1856.  At  that  time  his 
owner  removed  to  Fort  Snelling,  which  was  situ 
ated  north  of  latitude  36°  30',  and  also  north  <~  £ 
the  State  of  Missouri.  Dred  Scott's  claim  was 
that  by  his  residence  in  Illinois,  where  negro 
slavery  does  not  exist  by  law,  and  in  the  territory 
north  of  36°  30',  where  by  the  Missouri  Com 
promise  it  was  prohibited,  his  liberty  had  been 
acquired.  This  question  had  been  carried  in 
course  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  Chief  Justice  Taney,  whose  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  law  was  held  in  the  highest 
estimation,  but  who  was  a  man  of  intense  po 
litical  opinions,  and  withal  a  lover  of  Southern 
institutions,  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  Court : 

Negroes  "  were  not  intended  to  be  included  under  the 
word  citizens  in  the  Constitution,  and  therefore  can  claim 
none  of  the  rights  and  privileges  which  that  instrument 


KANSAS— BUCHANAN' S  ADMINISTRATION     1 2  7 

provides  for  and  secures  to  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  .  .  .  They  had  for  more  than  a  century  been  re 
garded  as  beings  of  an  inferior  order,  and  altogether  unfit  10 
associate  with  the  white  race,  either  in  social  or  political  re 
lations  ;  and  so  far  inferior  that  they  had  no  rights  which  the 
•white  man  was  bound  to  respect,  and  that  the  negro  might 
justly  and  lawfully  be  reduced  to  slavery  for  his  benefit." 

Referring  to  the  clause  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  asserting  that  "  all  men  are  cre 
ated  equal,"  the  chief  justice  said : 

"  The  general  words  above  quoted  would  seem  to  em 
brace  the  whole  human  family,  and  if  they  were  used  in 
a  similar  instrument  at  this  day  would  be  so  understood. 
But  it  is  too  clear  for  dispute  that  the  enslaved  African 
race  were  not  intended  to  be  included,  and  form  no  part 
of  the  people  who  framed  and  adopted  this  Declaration." 

Justice  Taney  furthermore  passed  on  the  con 
stitutionality  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  the 
discussion  of  which  political  question  in  the 
opinion  was  a  mere  obiter  dictum  not  necessary 
to  a  decision  of  the  matter  involved.  It  was  in 
cluded  wholly  for  the  pleasure  and  benefit  of  the 
South.  The  declared  opinion  of  the  court  was 
that  the  Missouri  Compromise  Act  "  is  not  war 
ranted  by  the  Constitution,  and  is  therefore 
void."  Taney  from  the  Supreme  Court  Bench 
completed  the  work  done  by  Douglas  in  his  seat 
in  the  Senate.  Sound  law  the  decision  from  a 
strict  point  of  view  may  have  been,  but  it  was 
a  most  disastrous  one  in  its  results. 

"  The  negro  has  no  rights  that  the  white  man 
is  bound  to  respect"  became  an  effective  legend 
on  the  abolitionist  banner.  It  added  new  force 


128  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

to  the  fiery  zeal  of  the  antislavery  party,  and 
went  far  towards  insuring  Republican  victory 
four  years  afterwards. 

President  Buchanan  was  very  tender  of  South 
ern  interests.  We  may  credit  him  with,  however, 
an  earnest  and  honest  desire  to  allay  the  troubles 
that  were  rending  the  country;  but  he  had  an 
eye  to  only  one  side,  and  he  was  willing  to  sacri 
fice  justice  in  Kansas  in  order  to  give  satisfac 
tion  to  the  South.  Twenty  years  earlier  he  might 
have  been  an  ideal  executive.  As  it  was,  at  a 
most  critical  position  of  affairs  he  proved  himself 
incapable.  Had  a  strong  man  filled  the  office  of 
President, — the  last  political  tie  uniting  the 
North  and  the  South, — the  Civil  War  might  have 
been  averted.  Buchanan's  term  of  office  proved 
how  utterly  weak  the  Union  had  become. 

A  pro-slavery  Legislature  had  been  estab 
lished  at  Lecompton  (September  5,  1857),  by 
means  which  were  farcical  and  fraudulent  in  the 
highest  degree.  A  convention  was  called  and  a 
constitution  submitted  to  the  people,  which  was 
of  course  in  accord  with  the  wishes  of  the  men 
who  wrote  it.  The  people  were  required  to  vote 
not  on  the  constitution  itself,  but  on  the  ques 
tion  whether  they  would  accept  that  instrument 
with  or  without  slavery.  This,  as  it  was  char 
acterized  at  the  time,  was  like  the  ancient  method 
of  trying  witches :  they  were  thrown  into  deep 
water;  if  they  floated,  they  were  judged  guilty 
and  forthwith  taken  out  and  hanged;  if  they 
were  drowned,  they  were  pronounced  innocent. 


KANSAS— BUCHANAN'S  ADMINISTRATION     129 

The  free  State  men  refused  to  vote  in  this 
manner,  or  to  have  anything  whatsoever  to  do 
with  this  constitution.  Consequently,  it  was 
adopted  by  a  unanimous  vote,  the  returns  in 
cluding  thousands  of  ballots  beyond  the  number 
which  were  actually  cast.  The  Lecompton  con 
stitution  was  transmitted  to  Congress,  accom 
panied  by  a  message  from  President  Buchanan 
recommending  the  admission  of  Kansas  as  a 
State.  On  the  ground  of  this  Lecompton  trans 
action  he  declared  that  Kansas  was  as  much  a 
slave  State  as  were  Georgia  and  South  Carolina. 
"  It  has  been  solemnly  adjudged,"  said  he,  "  by 
the  highest  judicial  tribunal  known  to  our  laws 
that  slavery  exists  in  Kansas  by  virtue  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States."  This  action 
proved  the  downfall  of  the  Democratic  party. 
Douglas  broke  away,  and  refused  to  give  his 
countenance  to  the  proceeding. 

But  the  South  fought  hard  for  the  admission 
of  Kansas  as  a  slave  State ;  it  was  needed  to  pre 
serve  the  balance  of  power  in  the  Senate.  In 
connection  with  this  phase  of  the  controversy  it 
is  worth  while  to  quote  the  reason  for  Southern 
aggression,  as  adduced  in  an  address  to  the  Sen 
ate  by  Jefferson  Davis  while  this  bill  was  before 
that  body : 

"We  are  arraigned  day  after  day  as  the  aggressive 
power.  What  Southern  Senator  during  this  whole  session 
has  attacked  any  portion  or  any  interest  of  the  North? 
In  what  have  we,  now  or  ever,  back  to  the  earliest  period 
pf  our  history,  sought  to  deprive  the  North  of  any  advan- 

9 


1 30  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

tage  it  possessed?  The  whole  charge  is,  and  has  been,  that 
we  seek  to  extend  our  own  institution  into  the  common 
territory  of  the  United  States.  Well  and  wisely  has  the 
President  of  the  United  States  pointed  to  that  common 
territory  as  the  joint  possession  of  the  country."  ...  In  the 
South  is  presented  "  a  new  problem.  ...  A  race  suited  to 
our  labor  exists  there.  Why  should  we  care  whether  they 
go  into  other  Territories  or  not?  Simply  because  of  the 
war  that  is  made  against  our  institutions ;  simply  because 
of  the  want  of  security  which  results  from  the  action  of 
our  opponents  in  the  Northern  States.  Had  you  made  no 
political  war  upon  us,  had  you  observed  the  principles  of 
our  confederacy  as  States,  that  the  people  of  each  State 
were  to  take  care  of  their  domestic  affairs,  .  .  .  then,  I  say, 
within  the  limits  of  each  State  the  population  there  would 
have  gone  on  to  attend  to  their  own  affairs,  and  have  had 
little  regard  to  whether  this  species  of  property  or  any 
other  was  held  in  any  other  part  of  the  Union." 

These  words  fairly  represent  the  prevailing 
Southern  opinion.  They  were  fatuous,  however, 
inasmuch  as  they  failed  to  take  into  considera 
tion  the  change  of  Northern  views. 

Every  effort  was  made  by  the  administration 
to  force  through  Congress  the  bill  for  the  ad 
mission  of  Kansas;  but  Douglas  stood  in  the 
way,  and,  though  he  could  not  prevent  a  major 
ity  vote  for  it  in  the  Senate,  it  failed  to  pass  the 
House.  The  marvellous  spectacle  of  Douglas 
voting  with  the  Northern  Republicans  was  now 
being  witnessed,  and  the  South  branding  with 
the  term  "  traitor"  him  whom  it  had  but  recently 
adored.  The  important  aspect  in  all  this,  how 
ever,  is  the  effect  it  had  in  disintegrating  the 
Democratic  party,  thus  making  possible  the  elec 
tion  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 


VI 

THE    ELECTION    OF    LINCOLN 

THE  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  by  a  bold,  desper 
ate  stroke,  had  swept  away  all  compromise  meas 
ures  and  set  in  motion  a  campaign  of  sectional 
vituperation.  Editors  and  pamphleteers,  both 
North  and  South,  from  this  time  forward  in 
dulged  in  reckless  statements  and  objurgative 
expressions  which,  because  they  were  regarded 
as  reflecting  popular  opinion,  increased  the  ran 
cor  that  now  prevailed  on  both  sides  of  the 
Potomac. 

The  Dred  Scott  decision,  however  sound  its 
doctrine  to  the  effect  that  a  slave  did  not  become 
free  by  being  taken  to  a  non-slave-holding  Com 
monwealth,  had  startled  the  North.  That  sec 
tion  was  the  more  incensed  because  it  now  felt 
that,  instead  of  being  dependent  on  local  custom, 
slavery  was  nationalized  by  the  highest  tribunal 
in  the  civilized  world. 

Meanwhile,  the  tariff  reduction  of  1857  and 
the  financial  stringency  of  the  same  year  had  the 
natural  result  of  widening  the  chasm  between 
the  agricultural  and  industrial  States.  Nor  could 
the  South  view  with  complaisance  the  admission 
into  the  Union  of  two  new  States  which,  because 
of  natural  causes,  were  destined  to  be  free. 
These  were  Minnesota  and  Oregon,  which  joined 


1 32  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

the  sisterhood  of  States  in  1857  and  1859  re 
spectively. 

But  of  all  the  immediate  agencies  which  rent 
the  Union  in  twain,  the  most  potent  was  John 
Brown's  raid  on  Harper's  Ferry.  This  occurred 
on  October  17,  1859,  when  Brown,  with  seven 
teen  white  men  and  five  blacks,  seized  the  Federal 
arsenal  at  this  point,  captured  several  prominent 
citizens,  slew  others,  and  terrorized  the  entire 
community.  Claiming  to  have  been  inspired 
"  by  the  authority  of  Almighty  God,"  Brown 
displayed  unusual  courage,  and  surrendered  only 
after  having  been  overpowered  by  the  militia  and 
a  company  of  United  States  marines  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Robert  E.  Lee. 

Brown's  followers,  white  and  black,  were 
drawn  entirely  from  the  North,  and  among  the 
papers  discovered  on  his  person  or  in  the  house 
in  Maryland  which  he  had  occupied  for  several 
months,  were  documents  which,  in  the  opinion 
of  many  Southern  and  not  a  few  Northern  peo 
ple,  implicated  some  of  the  abolition  leaders.  No 
less  significant  was  the  fact  that,  in  addition  to 
revolvers,  rifles,  and  other  weapons  found  in  pos 
session  of  the  insurgents  (as  Brown's  men  were 
called),  were  a  large  number  of  pikes  which  are 
said  to  have  been  manufactured  at  the  North. 
These  spears  were  about  ten  inches  in  length, 
shaped  like  a  dagger,  with  both  sides  sharpened, 
and  were  attached  to  handles  of  white  ash  about 
six  feet  in  length.  Evidently  intended  for 
negroes  unaccustomed  to  the  use  of  fire-arms, 


THE   ELECTION   OF   LINCOLN  133 

their  existence  indicated  a  plan  of  a  wide-spread 
servile  insurrection.  These  instruments  of  death 
caused  a  shudder  to  convulse  the  whole  South. 
All  the  horrors  that  had  overtaken  the  West  In 
dies  seemed  to  rise  before  the  minds  of  the  entire 
slave-holding  population. 

John  Brown's  raid  also  persuaded  a  large  sec 
tion  of  the  South  that  the  movement  was  inau 
gurated  for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  the 
abolition  cause  in  the  border  States.  It  did  more 
than  this.  Southerners,  failing  to  distinguish 
between  a  handful  of  fanatics  and  a  whole  popu 
lation,  began  to  think  that  Brown's  ideas  were 
those  of  a  great  majority  of  the  Northern  people, 
particularly  those  whose  political  views  were 
those  of  the  new  Republican  party.  "  Disguise 
it  as  we  may,"  said  the  Petersburg  Express,  in 
commenting  on  the  Harper's  Ferry  tragedy, 
"large  portions  of  the  North  are  our  enemies. 
More  bitter,  more  deadly  hostile  than  though 
hereditary  enmity  had  pitched  their  opposing 
hosts  on  a  hundred  battle-fields.  The  spirit  of 
the  effort  to  wrest  Kansas  from  slavery,  made 
by  the  concert  of  a  party  which  polled  more  than 
a  million  votes  at  the  last  Presidential  election,  is 
manifest  enough  from  the  dead  and  captured 
agents  of  the  bloody  design  at  Harper's  Ferry. 
Had  one  of  the  men  of  the  irrepressible  conflict 
school  occupied  the  Presidency  in  the  past  five 
days,  who  can  tell  the  bloody  news  which  would 
at  this  instant  be  ringing  through  the  land?" 

Brown  had  formulated  his  plans  in  Canada. 


134  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

He  and  his  admirers  had,  moreover,  a  printed 
constitution,  together  with  a  set  of  by-laws,  for 
a  provisional  government  of  the  United  States. 
Also,  from  a  so-called  War  Department  at  a 
point  near  Harper's  Ferry,  they  had  issued  com 
missions,  of  which  the  following  is  a  specimen : 

"  Whereas,  W.  H.  Leeman  has  been  nominated  Captain 
of  the  army  established  under  the  Provisional  Government, 
now,  therefore,  in  pursuance  of  authority  vested  in  me  by 
the  said  constitution,  I  do  hereby  appoint  and  commission 
the  said  W.  H.  Leeman,  Captain.  Given  at  the  office  of 
the  Secretary  of  War  on  the  I5th  day  of  October,  1859. 
(Signed)  "JOHN  BROWN, 

"  Commander  in  Chief." 

This  document  was  countersigned  by  a  man 
styling  himself  "  Secretary  of  War,"  and  is  inter 
esting  as  a  proof  of  Brown's  attempt  to  organize 
a  government  hostile  to  the  Union. 

Brown  and  his  surviving  confederates  were 
tried  by  the  Virginian  courts  and  promptly  exe 
cuted.  To  one  section  he  was  a  dangerous  an 
archist,  a  red-handed  murderer;  to  the  other,  a 
martyr  who  had  yielded  up  his  life  on  the  altar 
of  human  liberty.  Whether  the  result  would 
have  been  the  same  had  he,  at  that  time,  been 
tried  for  treason  by  the  Federal  authorities,  may 
admit  of  some  doubt;  but,  at  all  events,  the 
tragedy  left  an  ugly  wound  which  was  ready  to 
gape  at  the  first  shock  given  the  body  politic. 
This  occurred  when  the  Republican  party  came 
into  power  at  the  election  of  1860.  To  the  rank 
and  file  of  Northern  people  the  victory  of  the 


THE   ELECTION   OF   LINCOLN  135 

Republicans  meant  the  denationalization  of 
slavery;  but  to  an  augmenting  number  of  South 
erners  it  announced  the  repetition,  on  a  more 
elaborate  scale,  of  the  strife  in  Kansas  and  the 
conspiracy  that  ripened  at  Harper's  Ferry. 
Counsel  was  thrown  to  the  winds,  and  those  bent 
on  secession  proved  stronger  than  State  conven 
tions. 

Three  names  had  now  come  to  dominate 
American  politics ;  three  new  men  had  taken  the 
places  formerly  occupied  by  Webster,  Clay,  and 
Calhoun.  These,  of  course,  were  Lincoln,  Doug 
las,  and  Jefferson  Davis.  And  around  these 
three  names  may  be  gathered  the  theories  and 
influences  upon  which  the  States  were  divided. 
Each  was  as  distinct  in  the  doctrine  which  he  held 
as  in  personal  characteristics  and  circumstances. 

The  antecedents  of  Lincoln  were  found  in  the 
despised  "  poor  whites"  of  Kentucky.  His  father 
was  dull,  ignorant,  and  shiftless,  but  his  mother 
(the  natural  offspring  of  a  Southern  planter) 
possessed  unusual  qualities  of  intellect.  While 
he  was  yet  a  child  the  family  of  Lincoln  moved 
to  the  sparsely  settled  and  uncivilized  West, 
where  he  was  brought  up  in  extreme  poverty  as 
well  as  in  entire  lack  of  educational  advantages. 
When,  on  his  nomination  for  the  Presidency, 
a  newspaper  requested  the  facts  of  his  life  for  a 
biographical  article,  Lincoln  replied  that  it  could 
all  be  summed  up  in  one  sentence  found  in  Gray's 
Elegy, — "  The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the 
poor."  His  mind  was  early  attracted  to  national 


136  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

politics.  Though  wanting  in  the  training  of  the 
schools,  the  strength  of  his  intellect  compensated 
for  his  lack  of  educational  advantages.  Beyond 
all  his  contemporaries,  Lincoln  had  the  power  of 
penetrating,  to  the  utmost  depths,  the  problems 
which  engaged  his  earnest  thought.  It  was  this 
quality  which  rendered  him  the  successful  rival 
of  the  more  brilliant  Douglas. 

The  latter  was  of  aristocratic  origin.  On  his 
father's  side  he  descended  from  the  famous 
Scotch  family  of  that  name.  His  mother  traced 
her  ancestry  to  William  Arnold,  of  Rhode  Island, 
who  assisted  Roger  Williams  in  founding  that 
colony.  Though  poor  like  Lincoln,  Douglas 
managed  to  acquire  a  fair  amount  of  education. 
In  1834,  when  he  was  not  yet  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  Douglas  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  the 
State  of  Illinois.  In  the  same  year,  he  made  a 
speech  at  Jacksonville  in  favor  of  President  Jack 
son's  anti-Bank  proposal.  This,  on  account  of 
its  remarkable  vigor  and  the  speaker's  lack  of 
inches,  gained  for  him  the  sobriquet  of  "  The 
Little  Giant."  Immediately  thereafter  he  con 
ceived  the  plan  of  organizing  the  Democratic 
party  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  that  certainty  in  its 
nominations  might  be  assured.  This  was  a  new 
method  in  political  campaigns,  and  it  became 
popularly  known  as  the  "  Douglas  Machine." 
To  the  end  of  his  life  Douglas  was  the  soul  of  this 
machine.  It  sent  him  to  the  Legislature  in  1836, 
when  he  was  but  twenty-three  years  of  age.  In 
1841  it  enabled  him  to  obtain  the  office  of  Secre- 


STEPHEN    A.   DOUGLAS 
From  a  photograph  by  Brady 


THE   ELECTION   OF   LINCOLN  137 

tary  of  State  of  Illinois,  and  early  in  the  same 
year  the  election,  by  the  Legislature,  to  a  judge- 
ship  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Common 
wealth.  Gaining  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  in  1843  by  the  same  influence,  through 
it  he  remained,  from  that  year  to  the  end  of 
his  life,  a  member  of  the  National  Congress. 
Possessing  a  ready  intellect  and  a  flashing  elo 
quence,  Douglas's  chief  strength,  aside  from  his 
power  of  political  management,  lay  in  those 
superficial  qualities  which  have  an  immediate  but 
not  lasting  effect  in  debate. 

The  Southern  member  of  this  triumvirate — 
Jefferson  Davis — differed  in  every  respect  from 
the  other  two.  He  was  saturated  with  the  tradi 
tions  of  the  South.  After  a  course  of  training 
at  Transylvania  University,  Lexington,  Ken 
tucky,  he  was  sent  to  West  Point,  from  which 
he  was  graduated  in  1828  and  was  immediately 
assigned  to  duty  in  the  regular  army.  During 
seven  years  of  arduous  service,  chiefly  on  the 
frontier  taking  part  in  Indian  wars,  he  distin 
guished  himself  by  bravery  and  a  devotion  to 
duty.  Resigning,  in  1835,  his  commisssion  as 
first  lieutenant,  he  married  the  daughter  of 
Zachary  Taylor  and  settled  down  to  the  life  of 
a  prosperous  cotton  planter  in  Mississippi.  It 
is  interesting  to  remark  that  it  is  claimed  that 
during  the  Black  Hawk  War  of  1831-32  he  re 
ceived  the  oath  of  allegiance  from  Abraham 
Lincoln,  who  had  been  appointed  captain  of 
a  company  of  volunteers.  Davis  entered  Con- 


138  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

gress  in  1845,  m  which  year  he  took  his  seat 
as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
This,  however,  he  resigned  in  June  of  the  fol 
lowing  year,  in  order  to  become  colonel  of  the 
First  Mississippi  Volunteers,  which  he  led  with 
brilliant  success  in  the  Mexican  War.  He  was 
appointed  by  the  governor  of  Mississippi  to  fill 
a  vacancy  in  the  United  States  Senate  in  1847, 
and  in  the  following  year  the  Legislature  of  his 
State  unanimously  elected  him  to  the  Senatorial 
office.  Davis's  quality  of  mind  was  intensely 
logical.  He  saw  clearly,  but  not  deeply.  He 
based  his  political  opinions  on  the  strict  letter 
of  the  Constitution,  to  which  he  held  with  abso 
lute  tenacity.  No  changing  social  conditions  or 
developments  of  the  country  were  allowed  by 
him  to  justify  deviation  from  the  interpretation 
which  had  been  given  to  that  document  by  the 
Fathers.  Thus  he  was  peculiarly  adapted  to 
succeed  Calhoun  as  the  leader  of  the  Southern 
section. 

In  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1860  these 
three  strong  men — Lincoln,  Douglas,  and  Davis 
— were  pitted  against  each  other  in  a  three-cor 
nered  fight.  The  preponderance  of  power  was 
clearly  with  Lincoln,  owing  to  the  division  in  the 
Democratic  party. 

When  at  the  Republican  State  Convention, 
which  met  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  June  16,  1858, 
Lincoln  quoted  the  Scriptural  aphorism  which  he 
adopted  as  his  political  watchword, — "  A  house 
divided  against  itself  cannot  stand," — he  uttered 


THE   ELECTION   OF   LINCOLN  139 

a  prophecy  which  applied  equally  to  the  hereto 
fore  dominating  Democratic  party  and  the  sec- 
tionalized  Union.  The  Democratic  party  had 
been  wrenched  asunder  when  Douglas  opposed 
the  Lecompton  policy  of  the  Buchanan  admin 
istration.  His  motive  for  this  action  has  been 
questioned.  Was  it  that  he  saw  the  impossibility 
of  holding  the  allegiance  of  the  Northern  Democ 
racy  and  at  the  same  time  opposing  the  senti 
ment  prevailing  in  that  section  against  the  pro- 
slavery  Kansas  scheme;  or  did  he  deliberately 
endanger  his  Presidential  prospects  for  the  sake 
of  his  conscientious  convictions  ?  Notwithstand 
ing  the  blame  attaching  to  him  in  the  repeal  of 
the  Missouri  Compromise,  we  are  inclined  to  hold 
the  latter  as  the  correct  view. 

Political  affairs  had  now  reached  such  a  pass 
in  the  North  that  Lincoln's  Springfield  doctrine 
was  the  only  possible  solution  of  the  difficulty. 
With  his  natural  perspicacity,  he  saw  what  must 
come  to  pass,  and  said,  on  his  nomination  to  the 
United  States  Senate,  at  the  Republican  State 
Convention  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  June  16,  1858: 

"  If  we  could  first  know  where  we  are  and  whither  we  are 
tending,  we  could  better  judge  what  to  do  and  how  to  do 
it.  We  are  now  far  into  the  fifth  year  since  a  policy  was 
initiated  with  the  avowed  object,  and  confident  promise,  of 
putting  an  end  to  slavery  agitation.  Under  the  operation 
of  that  policy  that  agitation  has  not  only  not  ceased,  but 
has  constantly  augmented.  In  my  opinion,  it  will  not  cease 
until  a  crisis  shall  have  been  reached  and  passed.  *  A  house 
divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.'  I  believe  this  govern 
ment  cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave  and  half  free. 
I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be  dissolved,— I  do  not  expect 


1 40  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

the  house  to  fall, — but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be 
divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing  or  all  the  other. 
Either  the  opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest  the  further 
spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where  the  public  mind  shall  rest 
in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction; 
or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward  till  it  shall  become 
alike  lawful  in  all  the  States,  old  as  well  as  new,  North  as 
well  as  South." 

When,  before  its  delivery,  he  read  over  this 
speech  to  his  friends,  one  said,  "  It  is  a  damned- 
fool  utterance."  The  speech  was  condemned  by 
all,  with  the  exception  of  Herndon,  who  said, 
"  Lincoln,  deliver  that  speech  as  read,  and  it  will 
make  you  President."  To  one  and  all  it  is  re 
ported  that  he  replied,  "This  thing  has  been 
retarded  long  enough.  The  time  has  come  when 
these  sentiments  should  be  uttered;  and  if  it  is 
decreed  that  I  should  go  down  because  of  this 
speech,  then  let  me  go  down  linked  to  the  truth 
— let  me  die  in  the  advocacy  of  what  is  just  and 
right." 

Pity  it  is  to  spoil  a  climax,  but  Lincoln  never 
made  such  a  response,  though,  with  his  political 
astuteness,  which  excelled  that  of  most  men,  we 
can  well  believe  that  he  expressed  the  thoughts 
to  which  admiring  biographers  have  given  an 
elegance  of  diction  unwonted  to  Lincoln's  off 
hand  utterance. 

However,  it  was  with  these  or  approximate 
sentiments,  chosen  not  from  moral  but  expedient 
reasons,  that  Lincoln  started  on  his  Senatorial 
campaign  and  the  ever-memorable  joint  debate 
with  Douglas,  his  political  opponent.  His 


THE    ELECTION    OF   LINCOLN  141 

friends  believed  that  he  would  win.  Lincoln 
thought  otherwise;  but  he  sapiently  declared 
that  he  would  prevent  Douglas's  success  in 
the  next  Presidential  campaign.  In  this  he 
succeeded;  for  Douglas  found  it  impossible  to 
make  his  Popular  Sovereignty  doctrine  agree 
with  his  acceptance  of  the  Dred  Scott  dictum, 
and  was  compelled  to  place  himself  on  record 
in  a  manner  which  was  hardly  satisfactory  to  the 
North  and  repugnant  to  the  South. 

The  poor  whites  of  North  Carolina  produced 
Hinton  Rowan  Helper,  who  in  1857  wrote  "  The 
Impending  Crisis  of  the  South :  How  to  meet 
It."  It  is  safe  to  say  that,  with  the  exception  of 
"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  no  abolition  work  cre 
ated  a  greater  effect  in  the  North  or  aroused 
more  animosity  among  the  slave-holders.  Its 
purpose  was  to  show  that  the  influence  of  slavery 
was  fatal  to  the  interests  of  the  immense  majority 
in  the  South.  Helper  brought  forward  a  mass 
of  data  of  which  the  majority  of  the  items,  when 
viewed  individually,  are  accurate  enough,  but  the 
uses  made  of  the  facts  were  such  as  to  deprive 
them  of  a  large  part  of  their  value  as  evidence. 
The  spirit  of  the  book,  which  had  an  enormous 
circulation  for  its  period,  is  well  shown  by  the 
following  quotation  (page  361,  fiftieth  thousand, 
1860)  : 

"  Now,  so  long  as  slave-holders  are  clothed  with  the 
mantle  of  office,  so  long  will  they  continue  to  make  laws, 
like  the  above,  expressly  calculated  to  bring  the  non-slave- 
holding  whites  under  a  system  of  vassalage  little  less  oner- 


142  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

ous  and  debasing  than  that  to  which  the  negroes  them 
selves  are  accustomed.  What  wonder  is  it  that  there  is  no 
native  literature  in  the  South?  The  South  can  never  have 
a  literature  of  her  own  until  after  slavery  shall  have  been 
abolished.  Slave-holders  are  too  lazy  and  ignorant  to  write 
it,  and  the  non-slave-holders — even  the  few  whose  minds  are 
cultivated  at  all — are  not  permitted  even  to  make  the  attempt. 
Down  with  the  oligarchy !  Ineligibility  of  slave-holders — 
never  another  vote  to  the  trafficker  in  human  flesh!" 

How  far  "  The  Impending  Crisis"  accorded 
with  the  views  of  the  non-slave-holding  people  of 
the  Southern  community  it  is  difficult  to  deter 
mine  ;  for  these  were  not  in  a  position,  nor  was  it 
to  their  interest,  to  make  known  their  wishes  if 
these  were  antagonistic  to  those  of  the  slave 
holders.  The  ignorant  class  of  Southern  whites 
(except  in  the  mountain  sections)  was  as  com 
pletely  dominated  by  the  slave-holders  as  were 
the  blacks.  There  was  also  in  the  slave-holding 
States  a  strong  element  which  was  not  greatly 
concerned  regarding  the  protection  of  the  pecu 
liar  Southern  institution.  The  census  of  1850 
showed  that  of  the  Southern  population  of  about 
8,000,000  whites  only  325,000  were  owners  of 
slaves.  What  were  the  exact  sentiments  of  the 
immense  preponderance  of  the  people  regarding 
slavery  it  is  impossible  to  determine.  The  press 
of  the  South  was  subservient  to  the  slave-holders. 
That  the  non-slave-holders  were  not  antagonistic 
to  the  institution  is  certainly  true ;  nevertheless, 
that  they  were  actively  sympathetic  is  not  so 
demonstrable. 

When,  however,  John  Brown  and  his  follow- 


£ 


THE   ELECTION   OF   LINCOLN  143 

ers  attempted  to  incite  an  insurrection  of  the 
slaves  in  Virginia,  which,  had  it  been  successful, 
might  have  resulted  in  the  indiscriminate  mur 
der,  outrage,  and  robbery  of  many  of  the  South 
ern  whites,  all  classes  were  united  in  a  common 
fear.  The  possibilities  of  servile  insurrection 
were,  naturally,  magnified,  and  the  South  was 
united  in  a  unanimous  and  bitter  hatred  of  the 
North,  of  which  section  Brown  was  regarded  as 
the  recognized  emissary. 

The  exploit  of  this  fanatical  abolitionist,  had 
not  the  Civil  War  followed,  resulting  in  the  bias- 
sing  of  Northern  opinion,  could  never  have  been 
regarded  by  historians  as  other  than  a  vicious 
atrocity;  and  men  like  Gerrit  Smith  and  Theo 
dore  Parker,  who  abetted  his  crime  by  financial 
aid  and  sympathy,  could  have  been  considered 
only  as  abominable  conspirators.  Professor  Bur 
gess  is  correct  in  his  estimation  of  the  impor 
tance  and  bearing  of  this  event,  when  he  says 
("  The  Civil  War,"  vol.  i.  p.  43)  : 

"  From  the  Harper's  Ferry  outrage  onward  the  convic 
tion  grew  among  all  classes  that  the  white  men  of  the  South 
must  stand  together,  and  must  harmonize  all  internal  dif 
ferences  in  the  presence  of  the  mortal  peril  with  which,  as 
a  race,  they  believed  themselves  threatened.  Sound  de 
velopment  in  thought  and  feeling  was  arrested.  The  follies 
and  the  hatreds,  born  of  fear  and  resentment,  now  assumed 
the  places  of  common  sense  and  common  kindliness.  And 
war  and  bloodshed  became  a  necessity  for  the  relief  of 
burning  hearts.  The  South  believed  that  the  Harper's 
Ferry  outrage  was  perpetrated  with  the  connivance  of  the 
leaders,  and  was  commended  by  the  rank  and  file,  of  the 
Republican  party." 


i44  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

In  this  view  even  Mr.  Douglas  might  have 
concurred,  for  he  had  said  (January  23,  1860)  : 

"  Without  stopping  to  adduce  evidence  in  detail,  I  have 
no  hesitation  in  expressing  my  firm  and  deliberate  con 
viction  that  the  Harper's  Ferry  crime  was  the  matured, 
logical,  inevitable  result  of  the  doctrines  and  the  teachings 
of  the  Republican  party,  explained  and  enforced  in  their 
platform,  their  partisan  presses,  their  pamphlets  and  books, 
and  especially  of  their  leaders  in  and  put  of  Congress.  .  .  . 
The  great  principle  that  underlies  the  organization  of  the 
Republican  party  is  violent,  irreconcilable,  eternal  warfare 
upon  the  institution  of  American  slavery,  with  a  view  to 
its  ultimate  extinction  throughout  the  land.  Sectional  war 
is  to  be  waged  until  the  cotton-fields  of  the  South  shall  be 
cultivated  by  free  labor,  or  the  rye-fields  of  New  York  and 
Massachusetts  shall  be  cultivated  by  slave  labor." 

That  Northern  men  were  able  to  look  with 
equanimity  on  the  possibility  of  a  servile  up 
rising  and  its  horrible  accompaniments,  is  seen 
from  the  words  of  Mr.  Giddings,  member  from 
Ohio,  who,  during  the  Thirty-third  Congress,  is 
reported  to  have  spoken  as  follows : 

"When  the  contest  shall  come;  when  the  thunder  shall 
roll,  and  the  lightning  flash ;  when  the  slaves  shall  rise  in 
the  South;  when,  in  emulation  of  the  Cuban  bondmen,  the 
Southern  slaves  shall  feel  that  they  are  men;  when  they 
shall  feel  the  stirring  emotions  of  immortality,  and  shall 
recognize  the  stirring  truth  that  they  are  men,  and  entitled 
to  the  rights  that  God  has  bestowed  upon  them;  when  the 
slaves  shall  feel  that,  and  when  masters  shall  turn  pale  and 
tremble,  when  their  dwellings  shall  smoke,  and  dismay  shall 
sit  on  each  countenance,  then,  sir,  I  do  not  say,  we  shall 
laugh  at  your  calamity  and  mock  when  your  fear  cometh ; 
but  I  do  say,  that  when  that  time  shall  come,  the  lovers  of 
our  race  will  stand  forth  and  exert  the  legitimate  powers 
of  this  government  for  freedom.  We  shall  then  have  con- 


THE   ELECTION   OF   LINCOLN  145 

stitutional  power  to  act  for  the  good  of  our  country,  and 
do  justice  to  the  slave.  Then  will  we  strike  off  the  shackles 
from  the  limbs  of  the  slave.  Then  will  be  a  period  when 
this  government  will  have  power  to  act  between  slavery 
and  freedom,  and  when  it  can  make  peace  by  giving  free 
dom  to  the  slaves.  And  let  me  tell  you,  Mr.  Speaker,  that 
time  hastens.  It  is  rolling  forward.  The  President  is  exert 
ing  a  power  that  will  hasten  it,  though  not  intended  by  him. 
I  hail  it  as  I  do  the  dawn  of  that  political  and  moral  milen- 
nium,  which  I  am  well  assured  will  come  on  the  earth." 

During  the  closing  days  of  1859  Ex-President 
Tyler  wrote,  though  with  gross  exaggeration : 

"Virginia  is  arming  to  the  teeth;  more  than  fifty  thou 
sand  stand  of  arms  already  distributed,  and  the  demand  for 
more  daily  increases.  Party  is  silent  and  has  no  voice. 
But  one  sentiment  pervades  the  country, — security  in  the 
Union,  or  separation.  An  indiscreet  move  in  any  direction 
may  produce  results  deeply  to  be  deplored.  I  fear  the 
debates  in  Congress,  and  above  all,  the  Speaker's  election. 
If  excitement  prevails  in  Congress,  it  will  add  fuel  to  the 
flame  which  already  burns  so  terrifically." 

On  December  5,  1859,  the  Thirty-sixth  Con 
gress—assembled.  In  the  Senate  there  were 
thirty-eight  Democrats,  twenty-five  Republicans,- 
and  two  Know-Nothings.  In  the  House  there 
were  one  hundred  and  nine  Republicans,  eighty- 
eight  Administration  Democrats,  thirteen  Anti- 
Lecompton  Democrats,  and  twenty-seven  Know- 
Nothings;  the  last,  with  the  exception  of  four, 
from  the  South.  No  party  having  a  majority, 
it  was  inevitable  that  the  election  of  a  Speaker 
would  mean  a  bitter  contest.  It  was  precipitated 
by  Mr.  Clark,  of  Missouri,  who  offered  a  resolu 
tion  that  no  Representative  who  had  endorsed 

10 


146  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

Helper's  "  Impending  Crisis"  was  fit  to  be  the 
Speaker  of  the  House.  The  contest  was  almost 
as  prolonged  as  the  one  which  ended  in  the  elec 
tion  of  Mr.  Banks ;  but  unlike  the  preceding,  this 
struggle  was  characterized  by  the  most  intense 
passion.  The  members  all  carried  deadly  weap 
ons,  and  on  more  than  one  occasion  it  seemed 
that  the  wrangles  which  occurred  on  the  floor 
of  the  House  would  end  in  bloodshed.  "I  be 
lieve,"  wrote  Senator  Hammond,  "  every  man  in 
both  Houses  is  armed  with  a  revolver — some 
with  two — and  a  bowie  knife."  This  was  typical 
of  the  feeling  which  prevailed  throughout  the 
country.  In  the  South  the  large  slave-holders 
had  a  black-list  on  which  were  the  names  of 
Northern  merchants  known  to  be  antagonistic. 
These  were  boycotted.  On  the  other  hand,  every 
effort  was  made  to  prevent  those  Northerners 
who  were  likely  to  winter  in  the  South  from 
doing  so;  they  were  urged  to  go  to  the  West 
Indies  or  to  Europe. 

Jefferson  Davis,  the  fully  recognized  leader  of 
the  Southern  party,  uttered  his  ultimatum  before 
the  Senate.  It  was  to  the  effect  that  the  Union 
would  be  dissolved  in  event  of  the  election  of  a 
radical  Republican.  Moreover,  he  introduced, 
on  the  2d  of  February,  1860,  a  series  of  resolu 
tions  which  clearly  defined  the  Southern  position. 
The  most  important  of  these  resolutions  were 
the  following : 

"Resolved,  That  the  unity  of  these  States  rests  on  the 
equality  of  rights  and  privileges  among  its  members,  and 


JEFFERSON    DAVIS 


THE    ELECTION   OF   LINCOLN  147 

that  it  is  especially  the  duty  of  the  Senate,  which  repre 
sents  the  States  in  their  sovereign  capacity,  to  resist  all 
attempts  to  discriminate,  either  in  relation  to  person  or 
property,  so  as,  in  the  Territories — which  are  the  common 
possession  of  the  United  States — to  give  advantages  to  the 
citizens  of  one  State  which  are  not  equally  secured  to  those 
of  every  other  State." 

"Resolved,  That  neither  Congress  nor  a  Territorial 
Legislature,  whether  by  direct  legislation  or  legislation  of 
an  indirect  and  unfriendly  nature,  possesses  the  power 
to  annul  or  impair  the  constitutional  right  of  any  citizen  of 
the  United  States  to  take  his  slave  property  into  the  com 
mon  Territories;  but  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Federal  govern 
ment  there  to  afford  for  that,  as  for  other  species  of  prop 
erty,  the  needful  protection;  and  if  experience  should  at 
any  time  prove  that  the  judiciary  does  not  possess  power  to 
insure  adequate  protection,  it  will  then  become  the  duty  of 
Congress  to  supply  such  deficiency." 

"  Resolved,  That  the  inhabitants  of  an  organized  Terri 
tory  of  the  United  States,  when  they  rightfully  form  a  con 
stitution  to  be  admitted  as  a  State  into  the  Union,  may 
then,  for  the  first  time,  like  the  people  of  a  State  when 
forming  a  new  constitution,  decide  for  themselves  whether 
slavery,  as  a  domestic  institution,  shall  be  sustained  or  pro 
hibited  within  their  jurisdiction;  and  if  Congress  shall 
admit  them  as  a  State  they  shall  be  received  into  the  Union 
with  or  without  slavery,  as  their  constitution  may  prescribe 
at  the  time  of  their  admission." 


These  resolutions  contained  the  doctrine  of 
Davis;  to  it  Douglas  was  unalterably  opposed. 
He  held  that  Congress  had  no  right  to  prohibit 
slavery  in  the  Territories,  and  at  the  same  time 
it  was  not  obliged  to  protect  it.  In  this  view,  he 
placed  himself  in  opposition  to  the  South  and 
also  to  the  Republicans  of  the  North.  But  he 
was  the  mouth-piece  of  the  Northern  Democracy. 
Lincoln,  on  the  other  hand,  held  that  Congress 


148  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

had  the  power  to  prohibit  slavery  in  the  Terri 
tories,  and  that  this  had  always  been  the  inter 
pretation  given  to  the  Constitution  by  the  great 
statesmen,  and  that  consequently  the  Republican 
party  was  not  revolutionary,  but  rather  in  the 
way  of  being  conservative.  These  were  the  op 
posing  views  of  the  three  great  leaders  in  the 
Presidential  contest  which  was  imminent. 

The  Democratic  Convention  met  at  Charles 
ton,  South  Carolina,  April  23,  1860.  The  Doug 
las  men  were  in  the  majority ;  but  their  opponents, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  California  and  Oregon 
seemed  to  be  leagued  with  the  slave  States,  held 
the  majority  in  the  committees.  Consequently, 
the  reported  resolutions  of  the  committee  on  the 
platform  declared  that  the  Territorial  Legisla 
ture  has  no  power  to  abolish  slavery  in  a  Terri 
tory,  to  prohibit  the  introduction  of  slaves 
therein,  or  to  destroy  the  right  of  property  in 
slaves  whatever;  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
Federal  government  to  protect,  when  necessary, 
slavery  in  the  Territories.  Henry  B.  Payne,  of 
Ohio,  submitted  a  minority  report.  In  his  ad 
dress  defending  it,  he  said : 

"  The  Northern  mind  is  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  prin 
ciple  of  popular  sovereignty.  We  ask  nothing  for  the  people 
of  the  Territories  but  what  the  Constitution  allows  them, 
for  we  say  we  abide  by  the  decision  of  the  courts,  who  are 
the  final  interpreters  of  the  Constitution." 

In  an  eloquent  speech,  Mr.  Yancey,  of  Ala 
bama,  replied: 


THE   ELECTION   OF   LINCOLN  149 

"  The  proposition  you  make  will  bankrupt  us  of  the 
South.  Ours  is  the  property  invaded,  ours  the  interest  at 
stake.  The  honor  of  our  children,  the  honor  of  our  females, 
the  lives  of  our  men,  all  rest  upon  you.  You  would  make 
a  great  seething  cauldron  of  passion  and  crime  if  you  were 
able  to  consummate  your  measures.  ...  I  say  it  in  no  dis 
respect,  but  it  is  a  logical  argument  that  your  admission 
that  slavery  is  wrong  has  been  the  cause  of  all  this  dis 
cord." 


The  Douglas  platform  was  adopted,  with  the 
result  that  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
South  Carolina,  Florida,  Texas,  and  Arkansas 
withdrew  from  the  convention.  Those  who  re 
mained  failed  to  nominate,  and  on  the  tenth  day 
the  convention  adjourned  to  meet  at  Baltimore 
on  the  i8th  of  June.  The  seceders  formed  them 
selves  into  a  separate  convention,  adopted  a  plat 
form  consistent  with  their  own  views,  and  passed 
a  resolution  to  meet  at  Richmond  on  the  second 
Monday  in  June. 

Stevens  saw  clearly  to  what  end  all  this  was 
tending.  To  Johnston  he  said,  "  Men  will  be 
cutting  one  another's  throats  in  a  little  while. 
In  less  than  twelve  months  we  shall  be  in  a  war, 
and  that  the  bloodiest  in  history." 

"  Why  must  we  have  civil  war,  even  if  the  Re 
publican  candidate  should  be  elected?"  Johnston 
asked.  "  Because,"  replied  Stevens,  "  there  are 
not  virtue  and  patriotism  and  sense  enough  left 
in  the  country  to  avoid  it." 

The  Republican  Convention  met  at  Chicago 
on  the  1 6th  of  May,  1860.  Though  called  a  na 
tional  convention,  it  was  far  from  being  such; 


150  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

no  delegates  from  the  slave  States  were  present, 
except  those  from  what  were  known  as  "  Border 
States."  This  Convention  resolved : 

"  That  the  new  dogma  that  the  Constitution,  of  its  own 
force,  carries  slavery  into  any  or  all  of  the  Territories  of 
the  United  States  is  a  dangerous  political  heresy,  at  vari 
ance  with  the  explicit  provisions  of  that  instrument  itself, 
with  contemporaneous  exposition,  and  with  legislative  and 
judicial  precedent;  is  revolutionary  in  its  tendency  and 
subversive  of  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  country ;  that 
the  normal  condition  of  all  the  territory  of  the  United 
States  is  that  of  freedom." 

A  protective  tariff  plank  was  inserted  in  the 
platform  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  adher 
ence  of  Pennsylvania.  This  was  purely  a  politic 
measure,  the  wisdom  of  which  was  proved  by  its 
success. 

Seward  was  the  logical  but  not  the  available 
candidate  for  nomination.  His  radical  anti- 
slavery  utterances  were  too  fresh  in  the  mem 
ory  of  the  people.  It  was  agreed  that,  because 
of  them,  he  could  carry  neither  Pennsylvania 
nor  Indiana.  This  is  an  important  indication 
of  the  disinclination  of  the  majority  of  people 
in  the  North,  at  that  time,  to  the  principles  of 
abolition. 

Illinois  had  a  candidate.  He  was  not  pressed 
in  opposition  to  Seward,  but  rather  as  an  alterna 
tive.  Lincoln  owed  his  nomination  to  the  astute 
ness  of  his  political  managers,  and  also  very 
largely  to  the  fact  that  the  Convention  was  meet 
ing  on  his  home  ground.  He  did  not  come  forth 
at  the  call  of  the  nation;  for,  though  his  debate 


THE   ELECTION   OF   LINCOLN  151 

with  Douglas  had  given  him  some  fame,  he  was 
practically  unknown  outside  of  Illinois. 

It  is  possible,  indeed  probable,  that  had  the 
Convention  been  held  in  any  other  State  than 
Illinois,  Lincoln  would  not  have  been  nominated. 
The  opinion  of  judicious  contemporaries — and  it 
has  been  supported  by  careful  historians — is  that 
he  very  largely  owed  his  success  to  the  fact  that 
his  fellow-statesmen  outshouted  the  Seward  fac 
tion. 

Weed  told  the  story  of  how,  years  afterwards, 
he  and  Seward  were  riding  by  the  statue  of  Lin 
coln,  in  Union  Square,  and  Seward  said,  "  Weed, 
if  you  had  been  faithful  to  me,  I  should  have 
been  there  instead  of  Lincoln."  "  Seward,"  replied 
Weed,  "  is  it  not  better  to  be  alive  in  a  carriage 
with  me  than  to  be  dead  and  set  up  in  bronze?" 
But  had  it  been  as  he  wished  it  is  doubtful  if 
Seward,  notwithstanding  his  professed  adherence 
to  a  "  Higher  Law,"  could  have  won  the  confi 
dence  which  the  people  learned  to  place  in 
"  Honest  Abe."  The  man  who  so  eagerly  sought 
the  honor  of  the  Presidency  was  not  the  man 
whom  the  times  and  the  crisis  demanded. 

Greeley  also,  though  as  editor  of  the  Tribune 
he  exerted  an  influence  far  greater  than  that  of 
the  chief  magistrate,  was  far  from  being  un 
moved  by  ambitions  for  office.  When  Raymond 
was  elected  lieutenant-governor  he  was  not  able 
to  hide  his  disappointment  that  the  office  had  not 
fallen  to  himself.  In  his  attitude  towards  the 
causes  which  brought  on  the  war,  Greeley  was 


1 52  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

often  paradoxical.  This  arose  from  his  dual  dis 
position.  Holding  the  highest  theories,  he  had 
an  eager  desire  for  the  loaves  and  fishes  of  poli 
tics. 

Lincoln  was  nominated  on  the  third  ballot, 
thanks  to  the  efforts  of  Greeley,  who,  while  he 
did  not  support  the  successful  candidate,  secured 
the  defeat  of  Seward,  whom  he  sacrificed  for  the 
good  of  the  party.  The  nomination  was  received 
with  a  shock  of  surprise  by  the  country.  "  Who 
is  this  huckster  in  politics?  Who  is  this  county 
court  advocate?"  ungraciously  asked  Wendell 
Phillips. 

Douglas  was  nominated  by  a  strictly  Northern 
Democratic  vote,  at  Baltimore,  on  the  i8th  of 
June.  The  Democratic  seceders,  on  the  28th, 
organized  a  convention  consisting  of  delegates 
from  twenty-one  Commonwealths,  and  nomi 
nated  John  C.  Breckenridge,  of  Kentucky,  and 
Joseph  Lane,  of  Oregon.  Thus,  for  the  first  time, 
the  election  of  a  United  States  President  was 
fought  out  on  strictly  geographical  lines. 

In  the  result  Lincoln  received  180  of  the  elec 
toral  votes;  Breckenridge,  72;  Bell,  39;  and 
Douglas,  12.  But  the  popular  vote  is  far  more 
worthy  of  attention,  as  it  more  closely  indicates 
the  position  in  which  the  people  stood.  Lincoln 
received  1,866,352,  all  from  the  free  States  with 
the  exception  of  26,430.  Douglas  received 
1,375,157  (free  States,  1,211,632;  slave  States, 
l63»525);  Breckenridge,  571,871  slave,  277,082 
free;  Bell,  515,973  slave,  74,678  free.  It  will 


THE   ELECTION   OF   LINCOLN  153 

be  seen  from  this  that  the  Republicans  polled 
only  about  two-fifths  of  the  popular  vote;  and 
the  Southern  Democracy  did  not  carry  the 
South.  There  the  Union  candidates  received 
together  679,498  votes  against  571,871  for  the 
secession  candidate.  Thus  the  Republican  party 
was  not  supported  by  the  will  of  the  people ;  and 
the  disunion  element  had  not  a  majority  in  the 
South.  Consequently,  it  would  seem  as  if,  with 
the  exercise  of  wisdom  and  patience,  the  coun 
try  might  yet  have  been  saved  without  the 
horrors  of  a  civil  war. 

But  the  preponderating  inclination  among  the 
leaders,  North  and  South,  was  against  the  exer 
cise  of  that  patience.  Douglas  declared  at  Balti 
more,  on  September  6: 

"In  my  opinion  there  is  a  mature  plan  through  the 
Southern  States  to  break  up  the  Union.  I  believe  the  elec 
tion  of  a  Black  Republican  is  to  be  the  signal  for  that  at 
tempt,  and  that  the  leaders  of  the  scheme  desire  the  elec 
tion  of  Lincoln  so  as  to  have  an  excuse  for  disunion." 

Immediately  after  the  election  the  truth  of  this1 
assertion  seemed  to  be  demonstrated.  South 
Carolina  did  not  hesitate  in  her  action.  Seces 
sion  was  declared  by  the  leaders  and  welcomed 
by  the  people.  Wrongly,  they  judged  the  Repub 
lican  party  to  be  controlled  by  abolition  senti 
ment,  and  Lincoln  to  be  bent  on  emancipation. 
They  believed  ruin  was  all  they  could  expect  from 
the  Union,  for  they  were  certain  that  the  destruc 
tion  of  their  prosperity,  and,  indeed,  their  eco 
nomic  life,  would  follow  the  freeing  of  their 


154  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

slaves.  The  South  Carolinians  sincerely  believed 
that  they  were  subject  to  grievances  which  were 
irremediable  in  the  Union.  Therefore,  on  the 
2Oth  of  December,  in  convention  assembled,  they 
solemnly  declared : 

"That  the  Union  heretofore  existing  between  this  State 
and  the  other  States  of  North  America  is  dissolved,  and 
that  the  State  of  South  Carolina  has  resumed  her  position 
among  the  nations  of  the  world,  as  a  separate  and  inde 
pendent  State,  with  full  power  to  levy  war,  conclude  peace, 
contract  alliances,  establish  commerce,  and  to  do  all  other 
acts  and  things  which  independent  States  may  of  right  do." 

Among  the  reasons  adduced  for  this  action  is 
found  the  following: 

"  Observing  the  forms  of  the  Constitution,  a  sectional 
party  has  found  within  that  article  establishing  the  Execu 
tive  Department  the  means  of  subverting  the  Constitution 
itself.  A  geographical  line  has  been  drawn  across  the 
Union,  and  all  the  States  north  of  that  line  have  united  in 
the  election  of  a  man  to  the  high  office  of  President  of  the 
United  States  whose  opinions  and  purposes  are  hostile  to 
slavery.  He  is  to  be  intrusted  with  the  administration  of 
the  common  government,  because  he  has  declared  that  that 
*  Government  cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave,  half 
free/  and  that  the  public  mind  must  rest  in  the  belief  that 
slavery  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction.  .  .  . 

"On  the  fourth  of  March  next  this  party  will  take  pos 
session  of  the  government.  It  has  announced  that  the 
South  shall  be  excluded  from  the  common  territory,  that 
the  judicial  tribunal  shall  be  made  sectional,  and  that  a 
war  must  be  waged  against  slavery  until  it  shall  cease 
throughout  the  United  States. 

"The  guarantees  of  the  Constitution  will  then  no  longer 
exist ;  the  equal  rights  of  the  States  will  be  lost.  The  slave- 
holding  States  will  no  longer  have  the  power  of  self-gov 
ernment  or  self-protection,  and  the  Federal  government 
will  have  become  their  enemy." 


THE   ELECTION   OF   LINCOLN  155 

Three  commissioners — R.  W.  Barnwell,  J.  H. 
Adams,  and  James  L.  Orr — were  appointed  to 
treat  with  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
and  negotiate  the  withdrawal  of  the  Federal 
troops  then  in  the  State,  and  the  terms  on  which 
the  forts,  arsenals,  etc.,  situated  therein,  might 
be  handed  over  to  South  Carolina.  The  informal 
negotiations  which  occurred  between  them  and 
the  Secretary  of  State, — for  they  were  not  offi 
cially  received  at  Washington, — and  the  promises 
they  were  cajoled  with,  on  no  authority,  only 
served  to  furnish  the  somewhat  unstable  founda 
tions  on  which  certain  historians  afterwards 
rested  the  allegation  that  from  the  beginning  of 
the  active  secession  movement  the  South  was 
treacherously  dealt  with  by  the  Federal  authori 
ties. 


VII 

THE    FIRST    BLOWS 

THE  fact  that  James  Buchanan  was  President 
of  the  United  States  in  1860  and  during  the  first 
months  of  1861  was  unfortunate  for  both  the 
South  and  the  North.  Buchanan  was  not  able  to 
master  circumstances.  He  failed,  not  through  in 
ability  to  grasp  the  full  meaning  of  the  situation, 
but  because  he  brought  a  vacillating  mind  to  a 
problem  which  imperatively  demanded  firmness 
and  decision.  Consequently,  Buchanan  has  been 
blamed  by  both  sides.  He  was  loyal  to  the 
Union,  but  did  not  protect  it.  He  loved  the 
South  and  sympathized  with  the  motives  which 
prompted  secession,  but  dared  not  pronounce 
upon  the  withdrawing  States  a  parting  bene 
diction. 

In  his  message  of  December,  1860,  he  said  that 
"  the  long-continued  and  intemperate  interfer 
ence -of  the  Northern  people  with  the  question 
of  slavery  in  the  Southern  States  has  at  last  pro 
duced  its  natural  effect."  He  asserted  that  those 
States  were  suffering  under  such  grievances  that, 
"  after  having  used  all  peaceful  and  constitu 
tional  means  to  obtain  redress,  [they  would]  be 
justified  in  revolutionary  resistance  to  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  Union."  He  declared  further  that 
after  considerable  reflection  he  had  come  to  "  the 
156 


THE   FIRST   BLOWS  157 

conclusion  that  no  power  has  been  delegated  to 
Congress,  or  to  any  other  department  of  the  Fed 
eral  government,  to  coerce  a  State  into  submis 
sion  which  is  attempting  to  withdraw,  or  has 
actually  withdrawn,  from  the  Union."  Never 
theless,  he  denied  the  right  to  secede. 

The  message  was,  despite  this  last  statement, 
bitterly  assailed  at  the  North,  where  it  was  re 
garded  as  weak,  vacillating,  incendiary,  and  as 
furnishing  the  secessionists  with  potent  argu 
ments  to  support  their  claims.  The  North  held 
that  Congress  had  the  same  power  to  enforce  a 
law  in  South  Carolina  that  it  had  to  enforce  in 
Massachusetts  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  In 
speaking  of  Buchanan,  the  Boston  Herald,  on 
March  4,  1861,  declared,  "he  will  stand  out  in 
the  future  as  a  monument  of  all  that  is  hideous 
and  deformed."  Seward  fairly  characterized 
Buchanan's  attitude  when  he  said  that  the  mes 
sage  "  shows  conclusively  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  President  to  execute  the  laws — unless  some 
body  opposes  him;  and  that  no  State  has  a 
right  to  go  out  of  the  Union — unless  it  wants 
to." 

Buchanan,  however,  had  good  authority  for  his 
doctrine  of  non-coercion.  The  forcing  of  recal 
citrant  States  by  the  Federal  government  is  a 
measure  to  which  the  fathers  of  the  Constitution 
clearly  expressed  themselves  as  being  opposed. 
Alexander  Hamilton,  for  example,  said : 

"  It  has  been  observed,  to  coerce  the  States  is  one  of  the 
saddest  projects  that  was  ever  devised.  A  failure  of  com- 


158  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

pliance  will  never  be  confined  to  a  single  State;  this  being 
the  case,  can  we  suppose  it  wise  to  hazard  a  civil  war? 
Suppose  Massachusetts,  or  any  larger  State,  should  refuse, 
and  Congress  should  attempt  to  compel  them,  would  they 
not  have  influence  to  procure  assistance,  especially  from 
those  States  that  are  in  the  same  situation  as  themselves? 
What  a  picture  does  this  idea  present  to  our  view !  A 
complying  State  at  war  with  a  non-complying  State;  Con 
gress  marching  the  troops  of  one  State  into  the  bosom  of 
another;  the  State  collecting  auxiliaries,  and  forming,  per 
haps,  a  majority  against  its  Federal  head.  Here  is  a  nation 
at  war  with  itself.  Can  any  reasonable  man  be  well  dis 
posed  towards  a  government  which  makes  war  and  carnage 
the  only  means  of  supporting  itself?" 

On  the  same  subject,  George  Mason,  of  Vir 
ginia,  said : 

"  The  most  jarring  elements  of  nature,  sin  and  malice, 
are  not  more  incompatible  than  such  a  mixture  of  civil 
liberty  and  military  execution.  Will  the  militia  march 
from  one  State  into  another,  in  order  to  collect  the  arrears 
of  taxes  from  the  delinquent  members  of  the  Republic? 
Will  they  maintain  an  army  for  this  purpose?  Will  not 
the  citizens  of  the  invaded  States  assist  one  another  till 
they  rise  and  shake  off  the  Union  altogether?" 

A  very  large  contingent  in  the  North  agreed 
with  the  President  in  his  belief  that  the  Federal 
government  did  not  possess  the  right  to  force 
unwilling  States  to  remain  in  the  Union.  The 
most  astonishing  feature  of  the  history  of  this 
period  —  that  immediately  preceding  the  out 
break  of  hostilities — is  the  slight  and  insignifi 
cant  amount  of  war-talk  that  was  in  the  air.  The 
idea  of  peaceable  secession  prevailed.  In  the 
New  York  Tribune  of  November  9,  1860,  so 


THE   FIRST   BLOWS  159 

thorough    a    Northerner    as    Horace     Greeley 
said: 

"  We  hold,  with  Jefferson,  to  the  inalienable  right  of 
communities  to  alter  or  abolish  forms  of  government  that 
have  become  oppressive  or  injurious;  and,  if  the  cotton 
States  shall  decide  that  they  can  do  better  out  of  the  Union 
than  in  it,  we  insist  on  letting  them  go  in  peace.  The  right 
to  secede  may  be  a  revolutionary  right,  but  it  exists,  never 
theless  ;  and  we  do  not  see  how  one  party  can  have  a  right 
to  do  what  another  has  a  right  to  prevent.  We  must  ever 
resist  the  asserted  right  of  any  State  to  remain  in  the  Union 
and  nullify  or  defy  the  laws  thereof;  to  withdraw  from 
the  Union  is  quite  another  matter.  And,  whenever  a  con 
siderable  section  of  our  Union  shall  deliberately  resolve  to 
go  out,  we  shall  resist  all  coercive  measures  designed  to 
keep  her  in.  We  hope  never  to  live  in  a  Republic  whereof 
one  section  is  pinned  to  the  residue  by  bayonets." 

Northern  historians  have  written  of  this  ex 
pression  of  Greeley's  as  though  it  were  made  in 
a  moment  of  temporary  aberration.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  is  ample  evidence  to  prove  that 
a  large  section  of  Northern  opinion  was  in  strict 
accord  with  that  expressed  by  the  Tribune.  Not 
only  was  there  a  dread  of  civil  war  and  a  belief 
in  the  wrongfulness  of  violent  measures,  but 
there  was  a  strong  sense  that  constitutional 
sanctions  had  been  overridden  by  the  North  in 
respect  to  the  rights  of  the  South.  Note,  for  in 
stance,  this  opinion  of  the  Albany  Argus: 

"  We  sympathize  with  and  justify  the  South  so  far  as 
this:  their  rights  have  been  invaded  to  the  extreme  limit 
possible  within  the  forms  of  the  Constitution;  and,  be 
yond  this  limit,  their  feelings  have  been  insulted  and  their 
interests  and  honor  assailed  by  almost  every  possible  form 
of  denunciation  and  invective;  and,  if  we  deemed  certain 


160  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

that  the  real  animus  of  the  Republican  party  could  be  car 
ried  into  the  administration  of  the  Federal  government, 
and  become  the  permanent  policy  of  the  nation,  we  should 
think  that  all  the  instincts  of  self-preservation  and  of  man 
hood  rightfully  impelled  them  to  a  resort  to  revolution  and 
a  separation  from  the  Union,  and  we  should  applaud  them 
and  wish  them  Godspeed  in  the  adoption  of  such  a  remedy." 

In  February,  1861,  the  Detroit  Free  Press  said, 
editorially : 

"  If  there  shall  not  be  a  change  in  the  present  seeming 
purpose  to  yield  to  no  accommodation  of  the  national  diffi 
culties,  and  if  troops  shall  be  raised  in  the  North  to  march 
against  the  people  of  the  South,  a  fire  in  the  rear  will  be 
opened  upon  such  troops,  which  will  either  stop  their  march 
altogether  or  wonderfully  accelerate  it." 

These  utterances  represent  the  conservative — 
by  far  the  prevailing — thought  of  the  North,  as 
expressed  by  both  Republicans  and  Democrats 
during  the  first  months  of  secession.  How 
stood  the  abolitionists, — the  men  who  for  many 
years  had  been  active  in  stirring  up  anger  and 
bitterness  against  the  South?  Were  they  ready 
to  fight  the  South  in  order  to  preserve  the  Union 
intact?  Nay;  the  Union  in  their  estimation  was 
nothing;  their  whole  purpose  was  confined  to 
the  freeing  of  the  government  to  which  they 
were  bound  from  the  disgrace  of  human  slavery. 
They  were  not  patriots.  Hear  William  Lloyd 
Garrison : 

"At  last  the  covenant  with  death  is  annulled  and  the 
agreement  with  hell  broken,  by  the  action  of  South  Caro 
lina  herself,  and  ere  long  by  all  the  slave-holding  States, 
for  their  doom  is  won.  .  .  .  Justice  and  liberty,  God  and 


THE   FIRST   BLOWS  161 

man,  demand  the  dissolution  of  this  slave-holding  Union, 
and  the  formation  of  a  Northern  confederacy,  in  which 
slave-holders  will  stand  before  the  law  as  felons  and  be 
treated  as  pirates.  .  .  .  Up,  then !  Up  with  the  flag  of  dis 
union  !  That  we  may  have  a  free  and  glorious  union  of  our 
own!  How  stands  Massachusetts  at  this  hour  in  reference 
to  the  Union?  Just  where  she  ought  to  be,  in  an  attitude 
of  open  hostility." 

Wendell  Phillips  was,  if  possible,  still  more  en 
thusiastically  gleeful  over  the  prospect  of  cutting 
loose  from  the  slave-power. 

"We  are,"  said  he,  "  disunionists,  not  from  any  love  of 
separate  confederacies,  or  as  ignorant  of  the  thousand  evils 
that  spring  from  neighboring  and  quarrelsome  States;  but 
we  would  get  rid  of  this  Union  to  get  rid  of  slavery.  .  .  . 
All  hail,  disunion!  Sacrifice  everything  for  the  Union? 
God  forbid !  Sacrifice  everything  to  keep  South  Carolina 
in  it?  Rather  build  a  bridge  of  gold,  and  pay  her  toll  over 
it.  Let  her  march  off  with  banners  and  trumpets,  and  we 
will  speed  the  parting  guest.  Let  her  not  stand  upon  the 
order  of  her  going,  but  go  at  once.  Give  her  the  forts 
and  arsenals  and  sub-treasuries,  and  lend  her  jewels  of 
silver  and  gold,  and  Egypt  will  rejoice  that  she  has  de 
parted." 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  attitude  of  the 
abolitionists,  as  expressed  by  their  greatest  lead 
ers,  was  just  as  inimical  to  the  integrity  of  the 
nation  as  was  that  of  the  most  rabid  secessionists 
of  the  South.  And  when  later  the  sword  was 
drawn  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  Union 
intact,  the  abolitionists  regarded  it  as  a  fight  in 
which  their  conscience  called  upon  them  to  take 
no  part.  The  Hon.  Sherrard  Clemens,  of  Vir 
ginia,  speaking  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 

ii 


162  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

January  22,  1861,  fairly  characterized  the  posi 
tion  of  the  abolitionists. 

"We  have,  then,"  he  said,  "before  us,  these  knights  of 
a  new  crusade.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is 
the  sanctified  Jerusalem,  against  which  their  deluded  co 
horts  are  arrayed.  They  contend  the  only  mode  to  over 
throw  slavery  is  to  overthrow  the  Constitution.  They  re 
fuse  to  take  office  under  it,  because  it  recognizes  slavery. 
They  will  not  take  an  oath  to  support  it,  because  it  pro 
tects  slavery.  They  claim  their  allegiance  is  due  to  the 
State,  and  to  the  State  alone.  They  are  State  rights  men 
of  the  straitest  sect;  and  they  wield  the  legislative  power 
of  the  State  for  the  extinction  of  slavery,  as  South  Caro 
lina  professes  to  wield  hers  for  the  perpetuation  of  slavery." 

In  view  of  all  this  anticoercive  feeling  existent 
in  the  various  parties  of  the  North,  representing 
as  it  did  the  opinion  of  the  majority  of  the  peo 
ple,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  wonder  that  President 
Buchanan  was  hesitant  in  his  policy.  The  ques 
tion  has  frequently  been  asked :  Why  did  not  he 
follow  the  example  of  Andrew  Jackson  during 
the  Nullification  trouble,  and  prepare  himself  to 
strongly  enforce  the  observance  of  the  laws.  But 
the  situations  were  not  similar.  In  1830  South 
Carolina  did  not  secede;  she  determined  while 
remaining  in  the  Union  to  repudiate  its  enact 
ments.  Moreover,  at  that  time  she  stood  alone 
in  her  attitude  towards  the  Federal  government. 
In  1860,  however,  South  Carolina  was,  accord 
ing  to  her  own  belief,  a  separate  and  independent 
power  to  which  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
were  totally  foreign.  The  South  upheld  her  in 
this  belief,  and  almost  every  Southern  State  was 


THE   FIRST   BLOWS  163 

prepared  to  take  the  same  stand,  or,  at  least, 
looked  with  extreme  jealousy  on  every  North 
ern  contradiction  of  the  right  to  secede.  More 
over,  as  we  have  seen,  a  considerable  proportion 
of  Northern  sentiment  upheld  the  President  in 
his  opinion  that  he  had  no  right  to  use  coercion. 
Consequently,  had  Andrew  Jackson  been  in 
James  Buchanan's  place,  although  it  is  very 
certain  that  he  would  have  adopted  measures 
entirely  different  from  those  employed  by  the 
latter,  it  cannot  justly  be  argued  that  the  course 
he  took  in  1830  would  have  been  followed  in 
1860. 

Public  opinion  at  the  South  at  this  time  might 
be  conveniently  arranged  into  four  classes.  Un 
der  the  first  came  the  radical  section  of  Southern 
men, — mainly  Senators  and  Congressmen,  who 
were  clamoring  for  secession, — and  a  small  but 
active  and  influential  group  that  found  its  coun 
terpart  in  the  extreme  wing  of  the  abolitionists 
of  the  North.  Indeed,  they  were  in  accord  re 
garding  the  impossibility  of  union.  In  this  first 
group  of  Southern  leaders  were  men  like  Yancey 
and  Fitzpatrick,  of  Alabama;  Jefferson  Davis, 
of  Mississippi;  Robert  Toombs,  of  Georgia; 
James  Chestnut,  of  South  Carolina;  R.  B.  Rhett, 
of  the  same  State ;  Judah  P.  Benjamin,  of  Louisi 
ana,  and  John  Slidell,  his  colleague  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  together  with  Wise,  Mason,  and 
Hunter,  of  Virginia,  and  Wigfall,  of  Texas. 
These  leaders  wished,  because  of  their  theories 
in  respect  to  State  rights,  that  each  State  should 


164  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

act  independently  in  withdrawing  from  the 
Union;  but  they  asserted  that  after  having  re 
sumed  its  sovereignty  a  State  could  enter  any 
confederacy  it  pleased. 

The  second  and  larger  group  of  Southern  men 
represented  those  who  were  every  whit  as  much 
devoted  to  Southern  interests,  but  were  opposed 
to  hasty,  separate-State  action.  They  desired 
time  both  for  reflection  and  to  test  the  justice  of 
Lincoln's  administration ;  to  gain  this  breathing- 
space,  they  favored  a  co-operation  of  the  South 
ern  States, — a  general  convention  which  was  to 
set  forth  their  claims  and  present  them  to  the 
government  at  Washington.  These  men,  whose 
most  conspicuous  leader  was  Alexander  H.  Ste 
phens,  were  derisively  called  submissionists  by 
their  opponents.  They  numbered  in  their  ranks 
some  of  the  ablest  and  wealthiest  men  of  the 
South.  Indeed,  they  were  often  charged  with 
being  conservative  because  of  their  riches. 

The  Union  men  represented  the  third  and 
smallest  section  of  Southern  opinion.  Some  of 
these  were  Federal  office-holders  who  wished  to 
retain  their  posts ;  but  others  —  comparatively 
few — were  descendants  of  the  old  Federal  and 
Whig  families, — men  noted  for  their  possessions 
and  intellectual  attainments.  If  in  the  Federal 
army  or  navy,  they  often  remained  in  the  ser 
vice.  But  the  majority  of  out-and-out  Union 
men  were  included  in  the  ranks  of  the  poor, 
ignorant  whites  of  the  mountain  region  of  the 
South. 


ALEXANDER    H.    STEPHENS 
From  a  photograph  by  Brady 


THE   FIRST   BLOWS  165 

Finally,  we  have  the  fourth  class  of  Southern 
men  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war, — the  large  and 
important  element  found  everywhere, — men  who 
let  others  think  for  them  and  are  ready  to  be 
blown  in  any  direction.  In  the  ranks  of  these 
were  to  be  found  the  tradesmen,  the  small  farm 
ers,  and  the  artisans. 

How  to  form  these  four  classes  of  men  into 
one  united  whole  rallying  around  the  standard 
of  "  Southern  Rights"  was  the  problem  of  the 
out-and-out  secessionists.  The  first  step  of  the 
secession  advocates  was  to  hold  a  meeting  in 
Washington  while  the  Committee  of  Thirty- 
Three,  appointed  by  Congress,  was  discussing 
plans  for  peaceably  settling  the  issue  raised  by 
the  triumph  of  the  Republican  party.  This  meet 
ing  took  place  on  the  evening  of  December  14, 
1860,  and  was  called  by  Reuben  Davis,  of  Mis 
sissippi,  a  Representative  in  the  Lower  House. 
It  was  attended  by  about  thirty  Congressmen, 
all  of  whom  were  from  the  far  South.  Among 
the  States  represented  were  Alabama,  Georgia, 
Florida,  Arkansas,  Mississippi,  North  Carolina, 
Louisiana,  Texas,  and  South  Carolina.  Those 
present  at  the  meeting,  which  was  held  in  the 
rooms  of  Reuben  Davis,  included  A.  G.  Brown 
and  Jefferson  Davis,  Senators  from  Mississippi; 
John  Slidell  and  Judah  P.  Benjamin,  Senators 
from  Louisiana;  Wigfall,  Hemphill,  and  other 
active  secessionists. 

The  result  of  this  gathering  was  the  imme 
diate  issue  of  a  "  Southern  manifesto"  (Decem- 


1 66  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

ber  14,   1860),  signed  by  all  present,  and  tele 
graphed  to  their  constituents. 

"  The  argument  is  exhausted,"  said  the  document.  "All 
hope  of  relief  in  the  Union  through  the  agency  of  com 
mittees,  Congressional  legislation,  or  constitutional  amend 
ments,  is  extinguished,  and  we  trust  the  South  will  not  be 
deceived  by  appearances  or  the  pretence  of  new  guarantees. 
In  our  judgment  the  Republicans  are  resolute  in  the  pur 
pose  to  grant  nothing  that  will  or  ought  to  satisfy  the 
South.  We  are  satisfied  the  honor,  safety,  and  indepen 
dence  of  Southern  people  require  the  organization  of  a 
Southern  Confederacy — a  result  to  be  obtained  only  by 
separate  State  secession;  that  the  primary  object  of  each 
slave-holding  State  ought  to  be  its  speedy  and  absolute 
separation  from  a  union  with  hostile  States." 

This  Washington  meeting  outlined  the  pro 
gramme  of  the  chiefs  of  the  secession  move 
ment.  The  proceedings  indicated,  moreover, 
that  South  Carolina  would  secede  within  a  few 
days,  and  that  her  example  would  be  quickly  fol 
lowed  by  the  lower  South.  In  each  case  there 
was  to  be  a  convention,  a  debate,  and  then  an 
ordinance  of  secession ;  but,  as  already  observed, 
the  separatists  more  than  once  encountered  such 
opposition  in  the  convention  that  they  were 
forced  to  resort  to  a  coup  de  guerre  in  order  to 
carry  their  States  with  them. 

There  is  no  evidence  of  any  such  strong  and 
determining  sympathy  on  the  part  of  the  people 
towards  secession  as  some  writers  have  claimed. 
It  was  far  from  being  a  popular  uprising.  The 
secessionist  movement,  while  it  was  not  of  the 
nature  of  a  plot. — for  there  was  little  of  secrecy 
about  its  development, — was  fostered  in  Wash- 


THE   FIRST   BLOWS  167 

ington,  and  presented  to  the  Southern  people 
by  their  leaders.  In  the  conventions,  therefore, 
it  was  not  so  much  the  will  of  the  people  that 
was  executed  as  the  determination  of  the  politi 
cians. 

The  first  chapter  in  the  history  of  secession 
was  to  be  written  by  South  Carolina,  and  she  pre 
pared  for  the  work  by  electing  an  unusually 
strong  man  as  her  governor, — F.  W.  Pickens, 
who  had  been  minister  to  Russia  under  the 
Buchanan  administration.  Pickens  was  a  firm 
believer  in  Southern  rights,  which  he  believed  to 
include  the  execution  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law, 
the  repeal  of  the  antislavery  enactments  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  the  protection  of  South 
erners  travelling  or  sojourning  at  the  North  in 
the  enjoyment  of  their  property  in  slaves,  and  the 
full  and  equal  protection  of  slave  property  in  all 
the  Territories  of  the  Union.  Among  the  various 
declarations  of  the  new  governor's  inaugural  ad 
dress  was  one  to  the  effect  that  the  Northern 
people  "  propose  to  inaugurate  a  chief  magis 
trate  at  the  head  of  the  army  and  navy,  with  vast 
powers,  not  to  preside  over  the  common  inter 
ests  and  destinies  of  all  the  States  alike,  but  upon 
issues  of  malignant  hostility  and  uncompro 
mising  war  to  be  waged  upon  the  rights,  the  in 
terests,  and  the  peace  of  half  the  States  of  this 
Union." 

The  influence  of  South  Carolina's  ordinance 
of  secession  was  immediate.  Salutes  were  fired 
at  Mobile,  Pensacola,  New  Orleans,  Norfolk,  and 


1 68  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

other  points.  Palmetto  cockades  and  flags  were 
displayed.  Speeches  sustaining  the  action  of 
South  Carolina  were  everywhere  heard.  The 
enthusiasm  thus  kindled  swept  over  the  South. 
The  question  of  the  hour  was  what  was  to  be  the 
action  of  the  President  and  the  Federal  govern 
ment. 

Buchanan  evaded  the  issue.  The  sole  deter 
mination  to  which  he  adhered  with  any  degree 
of  firmness  was  to  close  his  administration  with 
out  taking  any  step  towards  a  solution  of  the 
trouble.  But  South  Carolina  was  determined 
to  press  the  question.  She  had  at  her  hand  an 
opportunity  in  the  Federal  forts  within  her  boun 
daries.  The  State  of  South  Carolina  asserted 
its  right  to  control  these  forts,  but  Federal 
forces,  disregarding  the  claims  of  the  secession 
ists,  still  held  them.  The  state  of  affairs  was  in 
tolerable  to  the  South  Carolinians,  and  the  ques 
tion  as  to  Federal  action  was  a  momentous  one. 

There  were  two  courses  open  to  the  Presi 
dent.  He  might  protect  the  property  of  the  Fed 
eral  government  by  sending  reinforcements,  as 
he  had  been  warned  was  necessary  by  both 
Major  Anderson  and  General  Scott;  or  he  might 
evacuate  the  forts,  as  Davis,  Secretary  of  War 
Floyd,  and  other  men  of  the  South  wished  him 
to  do  in  the  hope  that  such  a  procedure  would 
result  in  the  greater  likelihood  of  arriving  at  a 
peaceable  understanding. 

The  latter  course,  dishonorable  as  it  would 
have  been,  viewed  from  the  stand-point  of  the 


THE   FIRST   BLOWS  169 

North,  would  have  been  less  weak  than  the  drift 
ing  policy  which  characterized  the  last  months 
of  the  administration  of  President  Buchanan.  On 
December  8,  1860,  he  seems  to  have  come  to  a 
tacit  understanding  with  South  Carolina  to  the 
effect  that  the  forts  would  not  be  attacked,  pro 
vided  that  the  military  status  should  "  remain  as 
at  present."  But  shortly  after  this  Assistant  Ad 
jutant-General  Buell  was  sent  to  Charleston  with 
verbal  instructions  to  Major  Anderson : 

"  You  are  carefully  to  avoid  every  act  which  would  need 
lessly  tend  to  provoke  aggression ;  and  for  that  reason  you 
are  not,  without  evident  and  imminent  necessity,  to  take  up 
any  position  which  could  be  construed  into  the  assumption 
of  a  hostile  attitude.  But  you  are  to  hold  possession  of 
the  forts  in  the  harbor,  and,  if  attacked,  you  are  to  defend 
yourself  to  the  last  extremity.  The  smallness  of  your  force 
will  not  permit  you,  perhaps,  to  occupy  more  than  one  of 
the  three  forts,  but  an  attack  on  or  attempt  to  take  pos 
session  of  any  one  of  them  will  be  regarded  as  an  act  of 
hostility,  and  you  may  then  put  your  command  into  either 
of  them  which  you  may  deem  most  proper  to  increase  its 
power  of  resistance.  You  are  also  authorized  to  take 
similar  steps  whenever  you  have  tangible  evidence  of  a 
design  to  proceed  to  a  hostile  act." 

Buchanan,  though  he  had  not  seen  these  in 
structions  when  they  were  sent  by  the  Secretary 
of  War,  afterwards  acceded  to  them. 

On  the  evening  of  December  26  Anderson,  be 
lieving  that  an  attack  on  Fort  Moultrie  (which 
he  was  then  occupying)  might  be  expected  at 
any  time,  and  in  view  also,  of  its  untenable  con 
dition,  spiked  the  cannon  and  burned  the  gun- 
carriages  of  that  fort,  and  moved  his  small  force 


170  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

to  the  new  and  unfinished  Fort  Sumter.  This 
action  the  governor  of  South  Carolina  deemed 
to  be  a  violation  of  the  understanding  which  had 
existed  between  his  commissioners  and  the  Pres 
ident.  Thereupon  he  ordered  the  State  troops 
to  take  possession  of  Fort  Moultrie  and  Castle 
Pinckney,  and  soon  the  flag  of  the  State  was 
raised  above  them. 

Secretary  of  War  Floyd,  failing  to  have  the 
action  of  Major  Anderson  condemned,  resigned 
his  office.  He  was  glad  of  the  opportunity  to 
relinquish  it  with  some  pretension  to  honor, 
seeing  that  the  President  had  asked  for  his  resig 
nation  on  account  of  malversation  in  respect  to 
funds. 

The  resignation  of  Floyd  seemed  the  signal  for 
revolt.  On  January  5  a  caucus  of  the  Southern 
Senators  was  held,  and  it  decided  on  the  imme 
diate  secession  of  all  the  Southern  States,  the 
meeting  of  a  convention  at  Montgomery,  Ala 
bama,  not  later  than  February  15,  1861,  to  organ 
ize  the  seceding  States  into  a  confederacy,  and 
the  continuance  of  the  Southern  Senators  in 
office  to  obstruct  action  opposed  to  the  plans  of 
the  caucus.  A  committee  headed  by  Jefferson 
Davis  was  appointed  "  to  carry  out  the  objects  of 
this  meeting." 

On  the  9th  of  January,  1861,  was  struck  the 
first  blow  of  the  Civil  War.  The  forces  of  South 
Carolina  fired  upon  and  drove  from  Charleston 
harbor  the  steamship  "  Star  of  the  West/'  which 
had  been  chartered,  as  secretly  as  possible,  by 


THE   FIRST   BLOWS  171 

the  Federal  government  and  despatched  with 
men  and  provisions  for  the  relief  of  Major  An 
derson. 

The  "  Star  of  the  West"  episode  attracted 
little  attention.  It  forced  no  effective  action,  for 
everything  in  the  North  waited  for  the  advent 
of  the  new  administration.  Not  so,  however,  in 
the  South.  There  events  moved  with  surprising 
rapidity.  Mississippi  seceded  from  the  Union  on 
the  9th  of  January,  1861.  Two  days  later  Florida 
and  Alabama  took  the  same  course.  On  the  2Oth 
Georgia,  though  hesitating  under  the  influence 
of  the  powerful  arguments  of  Alexander  H. 
Stephens,  severed  her  connection  with  the 
North.  Louisiana  followed  on  the  26th,  and 
Texas  on  the  ist  of  February.  How  thoroughly 
consistent  were  the  Southern  men  with  their 
State  rights  theory  is  notably  illustrated  in  the 
case  of  Stephens.  He  urged,  with  all  the  power 
of  logic  and  eloquence  he  possessed,  against  the 
necessity  of  secession.  But  when  his  State  voted 
against  him,  as  a  loyal  son  he  bowed  to  the  de 
cision  and  did  his  best  to  aid  the  cause  of  his 
section. 

The  Confederate  Constitution  contained  the 
following  article : 

"Congress  shall  .  .  .  have  power  to  prohibit  the  intro 
duction  of  slaves  from  any  State  not  a  member  of  this 
confederacy." 

When  it  is  remembered  that  the  principal  in 
dustry  of  Virginia  was  the  breeding  of  slaves  for 


172  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

the  supply  of  the  cotton  States,  it  looks  as 
if  this  was  intended  as  a  forcible  argument 
to  induce  Virginia  to  cast  in  her  lot  with  the 
Confederacy.  It  was  not,  however,  until  the  I7th 
of  April,  1 86 1,  after  Lincoln's  call  for  volunteers, 
that  she  determined  so  to  do.  Her  mind  was  at 
first  bent  on  conciliation.  Her  General  Assem 
bly  invited  the  other  States,  slave-holding  and 
free,  to  join  with  her  in  a  conference  looking 
towards  the  proposing  of  such  concessions  as 
might  ward  off  hostilities.  The  invitation  fur 
thermore  announced  that  the  Crittenden  Com 
promise  would  be,  in  the  estimation  of  Virginia, 
a  satisfactory  basis  for  conciliation. 

The  Crittenden  Compromise  provided  in  its 
Article  I.  for  prohibiting  slavery  north  of  36° 
30'  in  all  the  territory  now  held  or  which  may 
hereafter  be  held,  and  recognizing  it  as  existing 
in  all  the  territory  south  of  that  line,  and  for 
allowing  any  territory  to  come  into  the  Union 
when  it  has  a  sufficient  population  for  a  member 
of  Congress,  according  to  the  existing  ratio  of 
representation  of  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
on  an  equal  footing  with  the  other  States  either 
with  or  without  slavery,  as  the  Constitution  of 
such  new  State  shall  provide.  In  Article  II.  it 
declared  that  Congress  shall  have  no  power  to 
abolish  slavery  in  places  under  the  exclusive 
jurisdiction  of  Congress  and  within  the  limits  of 
States  that  permit  the  holding  of  slaves.  In  Ar 
ticle  III.  it  declared  that  Congress  shall  not  have 
power  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Co- 


THE   FIRST   BLOWS  173 

lumbia  except  on  certain  conditions.  In  Article 
IV.  it  declared  that  Congress  shall  not  interdict 
the  transportation  of  slaves  from  one  State  to 
another  where  the  laws  permit  slavery.  In  Ar 
ticle  V.  it  declared  that  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law 
shall  be  modified  in  such  a  manner  that,  in  case 
the  owner  meets  with  forcible  obstruction  from 
people  to  the  recovery  of  his  slave,  the  United 
States  shall  pay  for  such  fugitive  slave ;  it  being 
provided  that  the  county  where  this  force,  or  in 
timidation,  or  rescue  takes  place,  shall  be  liable 
for  the  amount  paid,  with  authority  to  remu 
nerate  itself  by  a  suit  against  the  rescuers  or 
wrong-doers. 

The  Peace  Congress  desired  by  Virginia  as 
sembled  on  the  4th  of  February,  1861 ;  twenty- 
one  Commonwealths  —  fourteen  Northern  and 
seven  slave-holding  States  —  were  represented. 
In  this  Conference  the  six  Confederate  States 
did  not,  of  course,  take  part.  The  Union  men  of 
the  North  were  not  hopeful  of  any  salutary  re 
sult  from  the  Conference;  indeed,  it  appears  as 
if  some  were  not  even  desirous  of  it.  Senator 
Chandler,  of  Michigan,  writing  to  the  governor 
of  his  State,  and  forwarding  the  request  of  Mas 
sachusetts  and  New  York  that  Michigan  would 
send  delegates,  said : 

"  No  Republican  State  should  have  sent  delegates ;  but 
they  are  here,  and  cannot  get  away;  Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
Rhode  Island  are  caving  in,  and  there  is  danger  of  Illinois ; 
and  now  they  beg  us,  for  God's  sake,  to  come  to  their 
rescue,  and  save  the  Republican  party  from  rupture.  I  hope 
you  will  send  stiff-backed  men,  or  none.  The  whole  thing 


174  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

was  gotten  up  against  my  judgment  and  advice,  and  will 
end  in  thin  smoke.  Still  I  hope,  as  a  matter  of  courtesy 
to  some  of  our  erring  brethren  [the  Northern  men  who 
were  willing  to  compromise  for  the  sake  of  peace],  that  you 
will  send  the  delegates.  Some  of  the  manufacturing  States 
think  that  a  fight  would  be  awful.  Without  a  little  blood 
letting  this  Union  will  not,  in  my  estimation,  be  worth  a 
rush." 

The  advantage  of  the  Republican  party  seems 
to  have  caused  Chandler  more  concern  than  did 
the  integrity  of  the  Union.  In  this  he  was  not 
alone. 

Nothing  resulted  from  the  Peace  Convention, 
and  the  Crittenden  Compromise  was  defeated  in 
Congress,  the  House  vote  being  113  to  80,  and 
that  of  the  Senate  20  to  19.  But  the  peace-at- 
any-price  party  proposed  a  Thirteenth  Amend 
ment  to  the  Federal  Constitution,  which  read  as 
follows : 

"No  amendment  shall  be  made  to  the  Constitution  which 
will  authorize  or  give  to  Congress  the  power  to  abolish  or 
interfere,  within  any  State,  with  the  domestic  institutions 
thereof,  including  that  of  persons  held  to  labor  or  service 
by  the  laws  of  said  State." 

This  was  not  satisfactory  to  the  Border  Com 
monwealths,  and  it  received  no  attention  from 
the  seceded  States. 

In  the  mean  time  the  day  of  Lincoln's  inaugu 
ration  (March  4,  1861)  approached.  On  his 
journey  from  Springfield  to  Washington  the 
President-elect  made  many  speeches,  none  of 
which,  because  of  his  uncultured  manner  and  off 
hand  mode  of  expression,  tended  to  increase  the 


THE   FIRST   BLOWS  175 

respect  and  confidence  of  the  people.  His  dec 
larations  that  "  nobody  was  going  to  be  hurt/' 
and  that  "  nothing  was  going  wrong,"  were  sub 
jects  for  the  caricaturists  and  created  a  painful 
impression  upon  the  minds  of  serious  men. 

Inauguration  day  fell  on  a  Monday.  The 
morning  broke  clear  and  beautiful;  a  passing 
shower  prevented  the  troubling  presence  of  the 
dust  clouds  that  are  an  accompaniment  of  early 
Spring  in  Washington.  The  public  buildings, 
schools,  and  business  houses  were  closed  that  all 
might  make  holiday,  and  sounds  of  martial  music 
echoed  throughout  the  city.  National  flags  hung 
everywhere.  As  the  hour  drew  near  for  admin 
istering  the  oath  of  office  to  the  first  Republican 
President  that  had  ever  occupied  the  White 
House,  Pennsylvania  Avenue  was  thronged  as 
it  had  not  been  for  many  a  year.  The  vast 
multitude  moved  towards  Capitol  Hill,  where  it 
occupied  every  vantage-point.  Diplomats  in  a 
greater  number  than  usual  attended  the  exer 
cises  ;  distinguished  men  were  more  numerous 
than  ordinarily,  and  all  sections  save  the  South 
were  represented. 

Lincoln's  inaugural  address  indicated  that  he 
was  not  at  this  time  fully  decided  as  to  what 
the  situation  demanded.  His  attitude  towards 
slavery,  however,  was  a  positive  one. 

"I  have  no  purpose,"  said  he,  "directly  or  indirectly,  to 
interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  where 
it  exists.  I  believe  I  have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  I 
have  no  inclination  to  do  so." 


1 76  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

There  was  also  no  uncertain  sound  in  his  ex 
pressed  views  on  the  subject  of  secession. 

"  I  consider  that,  in  view  of  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws,  the  Union  is  unbroken;  and  to  the  extent  of  my 
ability  I  shall  take  care,  as  the  Constitution  itself  expressly 
enjoins  upon  me,  that  the  laws  of  the  Union  be  faithfully 
executed  in  all  the  States." 

On  the  question  of  coercion,  however,  he  was 
somewhat  at  sea: 

"  I  trust  this  will  not  be  regarded  as  a  menace,  but  only 
as  the  declared  purpose  of  the  Union  that  it  will  constitu 
tionally  defend  and  maintain  itself.  In  doing  this  there 
needs  to  be  no  bloodshed  or  violence,  and  there  shall  be 
none  unless  it  be  forced  upon  the  national  authority.  The 
power  confided  to  me  will  be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and 
possess  the  property  and  places  belonging  to  the  govern 
ment,  and  to  collect  the  duties  and  imposts;  but  beyond 
what  may  be  necessary  for  these  objects  there  will  be  no 
invasion,  no  using  of  force  against  or  among  the  people 
anywhere.  Where  hostility  to  the  United  States  in  any 
interior  locality  shall  be  so  great  and  universal  as  to  pre 
vent  competent  resident  citizens  from  holding  the  Federal 
offices,  there  will  be  no  attempt  to  force  obnoxious  strangers 
among  the  people  for  that  object.  While  the  strict  legal 
right  may  exist  in  the  government  to  enforce  the  exercise 
of  these  offices,  the  attempt  to  do  so  would  be  so  irritating, 
and  so  nearly  impracticable  withal,  that  I  deem  it  better  to 
forego,  for  the  time,  the  uses  of  such  offices.  The  mails, 
unless  repelled,  will  continue  to  be  furnished  in  all  parts 
of  the  Union.  So  far  as  possible  the  people  everywhere 
shall  have  that  sense  of  perfect  security  which  is  most 
favorable  to  calm  thought  and  reflection.  The  course  here 
indicated  will  be  followed,  unless  current  events  and  ex 
perience  shall  show  a  modification  or  change  to  be  proper; 
and  in  every  case  and  exigency  my  best  discretion  will  be 
exercised  according  to  circumstances  actually  existing,  and 
with  a  view  and  a  hope  of  a  peaceful  solution  of  the  na- 


GENERAL    WINFIELD    SCOTT 
From  a  photograph  by  Brady 


THE   FIRST   BLOWS  177 

tional  troubles  and  the  restoration  of  fraternal  sympathies 
and  affections." 

No  one  listened  to  Lincoln's  address  more  atten 
tively  than  President  Buchanan  and  Chief  Jus 
tice  Taney.  By  the  latter,  who  had  sworn  in  Van 
Buren,  Pierce,  and  Buchanan,  Lincoln  was  in 
ducted  into  office. 

Lincoln  soon  assembled  his  Cabinet,  which  for 
the  first  t:me  in  American  history  met  to  discuss 
civil  war.  It  was  composed  of  William  H.  Sew- 
ard,  Secretary  of  State ;  Simon  Cameron,  shortly 
to  be  succeeded  by  Edwin  Stanton,  Secretary  of 
War;  Salmon  P.  Chase,  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury  ;  Edward  Bates,  Attorney-General ;  Caleb  B. 
Smith,  Secretary  of  the  Interior;  Gideon  Welles, 
Secretary  of  the  Navy;  and  Montgomery  Blair, 
Postmaster-General. 

The  Southern  Confederacy  raised  its  flag  over 
Montgomery  as  its  national  capital  and  adopted 
a  Constitution,  much  of  which  was  borrowed,  and 
of  right,  from  the  Federal  Constitution.  Special 
stress  was  laid  upon  the  doctrine  of  State  sover 
eignty,  general  taxation  for  the  benefit  of  par 
ticular  localities  or  industries  was  prohibited,  in 
ternal  improvements  were  to  be  at  the  expense 
of  the  sections  profiting  by  them,  and  the  ques 
tion  of  slave-holding  in  any  Territory  that  might 
apply  for  admission  to  the  Confederacy  was  to 
be  decided  by  the  people  of  that  Territory.  Jef 
ferson  Davis  was  elected  President;  Alexander 
H.  Stephens,  Vice-President ;  Robert  Toombs, 
Secretary  of  State ;  Charles  G.  Memminger,  Sec- 

12 


1 78  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

retary  of  the  Treasury;  John  H.  Reagan,  Post 
master-General;  Leroy  P.  Walker,  Secretary  of 
War;  Stephen  R.  Mallory,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy;  and  Judah  P.  Benjamin,  Attorney-Gen 
eral.  It  was  distinctly  a  far-South  cabinet,  and 
both  South  Carolina  and  Virginia  were  left  out. 
Rhett,  of  South  Carolina,  whose  ambition  was  to 
become  President,  never  forgave  Davis,  whose 
election  was  due  to  a  misunderstanding,  the  ma 
jority  of  the  States  favoring  Robert  Toombs,  of 
Georgia,  but  giving  their  votes  to  Davis  rather 
than  to  Howell  Cobb,  whose  name  was  falsely 
represented  to  be  the  favorite  of  the  Georgia 
delegation  by  the  managers  of  the  Davis  inter 
ests.  It  may  also  be  said,  on  the  authority  of 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  that  Davis  did  not  seek 
the  presidency  at  first,  nor  until  he  found  it  im 
possible  to  accomplish  his  desire  to  be  comman- 
der-in-chief  of  the  forces  of  the  Confederacy,  a 
post  for  which  he  was  almost  alone  in  believing 
himself  eminently  qualified. 

The  provisional  Congress  of  the  Confederacy 
authorized  the  calling  to  arms  of  one  hundred 
thousand  volunteers  to  serve  for  twelve  months. 
Acts  were  also  passed  providing  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  navy.  A  post-office  was  organized 
and  a  judiciary  provided  for.  An  issue  of  one 
million  dollars  in  treasury  notes  was  authorized. 
Commissioners  were  sent  to  the  European 
courts;  and  thus  the  seceded  States  objectified 
their  belief  that  they  were  in  all  respects  an 
independent  nation.  But,  in  accordance  with 


THE   FIRST   BLOWS  179 

their  settled  policy,  the  powers  agreed  not  to 
recognize  the  new  government  until  it  should 
be  recognized  by  the  United  States.  Mason  and 
Slidell,  two  of  the  commissioners,  were  taken 
from  the  English  ship  "  Trent"  by  the  captain 
of  the  United  States  steamer  "  San  Jacinto," 
but  because  of  pressure  threatened  from  Eng 
land  were  released  shortly  afterwards. 

The  outlook  for  the  Union  cause  was  far  from 
encouraging.  The  country  was  still  suffering 
from  the  results  of  the  recent  panic;  Federal 
forts,  arsenals,  and  mints  had  been  seized 
throughout  the  South;  the  attitude  of  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  Democratic  party  was  unknown 
until  Douglas  pledged  the  government  its  sup 
port;  the  border  States  were  hesitating,  and 
State  after  State  in  the  far  South  had  passed 
ordinances  of  secession  or  had  been  forced  un 
willingly  into  the  Confederacy.  On  the  other 
side  of  the  Atlantic  sympathy  was  scant  and 
opinion  critical. 

The  extent  to  which  the  South  hoped  to  se 
cure  aid  from  Europe  is  a  question  that  may 
never  be  satisfactorily  answered.  It  is  true  that 
as  the  war  progressed,  especially  after  the  rec 
ognition  of  belligerency  by  Great  Britain,  France, 
and  Spain,  there  was  more  or  less  expectancy  of 
foreign  intervention;  but  even  before  the  out 
break  of  hostilities  the  more  clear-sighted  lead 
ers  of  the  ill-starred  Confederacy  realized  that 
it  was  vain  to  expect  any  assistance  whatever 
from  England.  In  a  letter,  for  instance,  written 


i8o  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

in  Washington,  December  3,  1860,  by  John  B. 
Floyd  and  addressed  to  Nathaniel  Tyler,  at  Rich 
mond,  Virginia,  the  writer  declared  that 

"  the  South  should  remember  that,  in  dissolving  the  Union 
she  annihilates  a  mighty  army  of  true,  unselfish,  and  de 
voted  friends  at  the  North  who  battle  for  the  constitu 
tional  rights  of  the  slave  States.  Without  this  great  and 
efficient  aid  the  power  of  abolition  fanaticism  would  be 
unbroken  and  unchecked — would  indeed  '  surround  the 
South  with  a  wall  of  fire.'  It  would  do  more.  New  Eng 
land  would  consort  with  old  England  in  devising  means 
by  which  the  cruel  and  inhuman  philanthropy  practised  by 
the  latter  in  the  West  India  islands  should  be  practised 
here.  That  religious  zeal  which  turned  away  from  all 
rational  hope  of  progress  in  the  Christian  faith  half  a  mil 
lion  of  Africans  to  the  barbarism  of  fetish  worship,  and 
converted  the  fairest  islands  of  the  sea  into  a  desert  and 
a  waste;  that  English  justice  which  seized  upon  a  thou 
sand  millions  of  her  subjects'  property  and  vaunted  herself 
before  the  world  for  having  paid  one-tenth  of  its  value, 
would  find,  surely  and  speedily,  ample  room,  in  conjunction 
with  New  England  abolitionism,  for  the  practice  of  her 
Pharisaical  virtues  amidst  the  fields  of  Virginia  and  Louisi 
ana."  (Richmond  Enquirer,  December  7,  1860.) 

Floyd  then  points  out  a  few  other  reasons  for 
believing  that  the  South  must  not  commit  the 
error  of  counting  on  the  support  of  Great 
Britain.  All  the  work  of  the  North  in  harassing 
the  South  and  impairing  the  security  and  value 
of  her  slave  property  would,  in  his  estimation,  be 
justice,  honesty,  and  fair  dealing,  compared  with 
"  the  inexorable  hate  and  majestic  fanaticism  of 
England  directed  against  the  slavery  of  a  dis 
membered  Union  and  a  feared  and  hated  com 
mercial  rival."  With  prophetic  insight,  he  main- 


THE   FIRST   BLOWS  181 

tains  that  twenty-five  years  of  union  and  har 
mony  will  concentrate  the  commercial  power  of 
the  world  in  the  waters  of  New  York,  and  that 
then 

"the  decline  of  England  becomes  as  certain  as  was  that  of 
Alexandria  and  Venice,  and  for  the  same  cause.  Instead  of 
the  first,  she  becomes  a  third-rate  European  power.  But 
let  disunion  take  place,  let  civil  war  and  discord  distract 
this  country,  and  England  well  knows  that  the  ships  of  the 
North  must  rot  at  their  wharves  and  the  busy  hum  of  their 
manufactories  must  cease  forever.  Then,  indeed,  would 
England  feel  again  that  she  was  mistress  of  the  seas  with 
out  a  rival,  secure  in  a  commerce  that  no  power  would 
ever  shake." 


Meanwhile,  aside  from  the  outspoken  utter 
ances  of  Queen  Victoria,  Albert,  the  Prince  Con 
sort,  and  Lord  Palmerston,  the  upper  classes  of 
England  professed  to  feel  much  sympathy 
towards  the  South,  whose  leaders  they  flattered 
and  cajoled  by  turns.  Gladstone  uttered  an  ex 
pression  so  favorable  towards  the  nascent  con 
federation  that  even  his  ingenuity  was  never  able 
entirely  to  avoid  its  effect.  The  South  had 
hoped,  also,  that  the  great  mill-owners  of  Eng 
land,  whom  she  furnished  with  cotton,  would  be 
inclined,  from  selfish  motives,  to  favor  her  cause ; 
but  industrial  England  was  on  the  side  of  the 
North,  while  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  visit  to 
Great  Britain,  together  with  the  firm  attitude  of 
the  Federal  government,  soon  destroyed  all  pros 
pects  of  open  sympathy  with  the  South. 

In  point  of  fact,  moreover,  our  transatlantic 


i82  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

kinsmen  had  never  looked  for  an  American  civil 
war.  It  seemed,  in  the  first  place,  too  good  to  be 
true.  Then,  again,  it  was  not  supposed  that  a 
nation  of  "  shopkeepers"  would  do  any  fighting. 
The  Presidential  campaign  of  1860  had  naturally 
aroused  keen  interest  throughout  Europe;  but 
the  result,  judging  from  the  general  tone  of  the 
English  press,  does  not  appear  to  have  given 
rise  to  any  widespread  conviction  that  interne 
cine  strife  was  imminent.  Some,  indeed,  pro 
fessed  to  view  the  subject  with  indifference, 
others  as  a  victory  for  human  progress,  and  but 
an  exceedingly  small  minority  regarded  disunion 
as  inevitable.  The  London  Review,  for  exam 
ple,  whose  sympathies  were  apparently  with  the 
Republican  party,  informed  the  South  that  her 
only  hope  of  preserving  slavery  was  in  the  Union, 
and  that  any  attempt  to  organize  a  Southern 
Confederacy  would  be  resisted  by  the  whole 
strength  of  Europe  and  civilization.  The  Times 
was  no  less  optimistic.  It  expressed  no  fear  for 
the  safety  of  the  Union. 

"  Of  course,  it  will  take  sortie  time  before  men  can  cool 
down  from  the  bluster,  which  has  been  so  profusely  used 
for  electioneering  purposes,  to  the  language  of  moderation 
and  truth.  When  the  cooler  heads  of  the  South  begin  to 
consider  how  imaginary  is  the  injury  which  they  have  sus 
tained,  how  vast  are  the  interests  involved,  how  heavy  would 
be  the  cost,  how  considerable  the  danger  of  disunion,  and 
how  impossible  it  would  be  for  the  Southern  States  to 
maintain  in  the  face  of  the  world  the  strong  position  they 
hold  as  members  of  the  great  American  Confederation,  we 
suspect  that  the  South  will  think  better  of  it,  and  turn  its 
activity  into  the  more  practicable  channel  of  providing  Mr. 


THE   FIRST   BLOWS  183 

Lincoln  a  Democratic  successor  in  1864."     ("  Summary  of 
English  Views/'  Richmond  Enquirer,  December  II,  1860.) 

The  faith  thus  expressed  in  the  good  sense  of 
the  American  people,  North  and  South,  by  the 
press  of  Great  Britain,  was  shared  in  a  measure 
by  Continental  publicists.  Europe  had  grown 
weary  of  war.  The  useless  struggle  in  the  Cri 
mea,  the  war  of  Italian  independence,  not  to 
speak  of  the  increasing  suspicions  regarding  the 
forward  policy  of  Napoleon  III.,  were  facts  in 
themselves  sufficient  to  create  a  genuine  desire 
for  peace.  Nor  had  the  revolutionary  move 
ments  of  1848  been  without  the  resultant  crea 
tion  of  an  extensive  popular  sympathy  in  favor 
of  the  black  slaves  of  the  South.  Facts  such  as 
these  were  not  calculated  to  win  for  the  leaders 
of  a  movement  at  conflict  with  the  pacific  and 
liberal  views  current  abroad  that  hearty,  spon 
taneous  good-will  which  is  often,  because  of  sen 
timent,  bestowed  on  the  efforts  of  a  nationality  to 
secure  for  itself  an  independent  State  life.  On 
the  contrary,  the  average  person  on  the  Conti 
nent  saw  one-half  of  our  country  seeking  to  over 
throw  slavery,  and  the  other  half  endeavoring  by 
force  of  arms  to  perpetuate  the  institution.  To 
this  conception  of  the  nature  of  the  American 
conflict  may  accordingly  be  traced  that  lack  of 
encouragement  met  with  by  the  South  at  the 
outset,  and  which  prevented  her  from  having  her 
independence  recognized.  The  world  was  unre 
servedly  against  slavery.  Nevertheless,  the 


1 84  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

North,  contrary  to  European  opinion,  did  not 
enter  into  the  war  to  secure  the  liberation  of 
the  bondmen,  but  to  preserve  the  Union.  Never 
theless  by  the  progress  of  events  Lincoln  was 
forced  to  free  the  slaves  as  a  war  measure,  and 
by  so  doing  he  gained  the  approval  of  Europe. 


VIII 

THE    THREE-MONTHS    WAR 

THE  history  of  the  negotiations  which  took 
place  between  the  Southern  commissioners  and 
Secretary  of  State  Seward  is  of  the  most  vital 
importance  in  the  genesis  of  the  War,  for  in 
the  outcome  of  these  conferences  South  Caro 
lina  found  her  excuse  and  justification  for  the 
bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter.  It  appears  as 
if  Seward  clung  to  the  hope  that  the  border 
States  might,  if  time  could  be  gained,  be  re 
strained  from  seceding,  and  that  eventually 
the  people  of  the  States  that  had  withdrawn 
might  be  won  back,  in  spite  of  their  leaders.  He 
gave  pledges  that  Sumter  would  be  evacuated, 
and  that  the  status  at  Fort  Pickens  should  re 
main  the  same.  President  Lincoln,  it  is  prob 
able,  was  unaware  of  these  promises.  Seward 
had  a  way,  during  the  early  days  of  the  adminis 
tration,  of  taking  matters  into  his  own  hands,  a 
mistake  which  he  soon  learned  to  avoid  commit 
ting.  While  preparations  were  being  carried  on 
by  the  naval  authorities  from  New  York  for  the 
relief  of  Fort  Sumter,  Seward  was  writing  to 
the  Southern  commissioners  in  regard  to  his 
previously  given  promise :  "  Faith  as  to  Sumter 
fully  kept.  Wait  and  see."  The  day  following 
the  delivery  of  this  message  Governor  Pickens, 

185 


1 86  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

of  South  Carolina,  received  notice  from  the  State 
Department  at  Washington  that  Fort  Sumter 
was  about  to  be  supplied  with  provisions.  The 
only  conclusion  possible  in  regard  to  Seward's 
negotiations  with  the  Southern  commissioners  is 
that  he  was  either  acting  on  his  own  authority 
and  deceiving  his  chief,  or,  being  cognizant,  as 
he  must  have  been,  that  an  expedition  was  in 
preparation  for  the  relief  of  Sumter,  he  was  play 
ing  with  the  South  in  order  to  gain  time  for  the 
North  to  gather  her  strength. 

As  soon  as  the  authorities  at  Charleston 
learned  that  Fort  Sumter  was  to  be  suc 
cored,  General  Beauregard  demanded  from 
Major  Anderson  its  surrender.  This  action  the 
logic  of  the  secessionists'  position  compelled 
them  to  take.  The  descent  of  the  fleet  was  in 
truth  the  inauguration  of  the  war  between  the 
sections.  With  the  fleet  in  the  harbor  and 
Charleston  menaced  by  the  guns  of  Sumter, 
South  Carolina  could  place  no  confidence  in 
Northern  pledges.  Believing  itself  constitution 
ally  enabled  to  secede,  and  having  actually  done 
so,  the  reduction  of  Fort  Sumter  was  a  necessary 
conclusion.  Even  Mr.  Douglas  said,  "  I  take  it 
for  granted  that  whoever  permanently  holds 
Charleston  and  South  Carolina  is  entitled  to  the 
possession  of  Fort  Sumter."  Horace  Greeley 
said,  "  Whether  the  bombardment  and  reduction 
of  Fort  Sumter  shall  or  shall  not  be  justified  by 
posterity,  it  is  clear  that  the  Confederacy  had 
no  alternative  but  its  own  dissolution/'  To  the 


THE   THREE-MONTHS   WAR  187 

demand  for  the  evacuation  of  the  fort  Major 
Anderson  replied  that  compliance  with  it  was 
prevented  by  his  honor  and  his  obligations  to  his 
government. 

The  man  whose  fate  it  was  to  strike  the  first 
blow  directly  against  the  Union  was  Pierre  Gus- 
tave  Toutant  Beauregard.  Born  near  New  Or 
leans,  his  sympathies  were  all  with  the  South. 
He  graduated  from  West  Point  in  1838,  and 
served  with  distinguished  gallantry  through  the 
Mexican  War.  In  November,  1860,  he  received 
the  appointment  to  the  superintendency  of  the 
Military  Academy  at  West  Point.  This  he  re 
signed  almost  immediately,  owing  to  the  crisis 
in  the  South.  He  was  one  of  the  very  first  to 
resign  his  commission  in  the  United  States 
army;  he  at  once  entered  the  service  of  the 
Confederacy  with  the  rank  of  brigadier-general, 
receiving  the  command  of  the  South  Carolina 
troops  at  Charleston. 

At  a  little  before  five  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  Friday,  April  12,  1861,  Beauregard  opened 
fire  with  his  batteries,  which  had  been  erected 
during  the  period  of  negotiations.  The  fort 
responded  gallantly,  and  the  bombardment  con 
tinued  throughout  the  day.  After  dark,  Ander 
son  ceased  firing,  but  Beauregard's  batteries 
continued  at  intervals  during  the  night.  It 
was  a  spectacle  which  the  inhabitants  of  Charles 
ton  enjoyed;  they  thought  they  were  cele 
brating  their  freedom ;  but  it  was  a  display  which 
presaged  disaster.  The  bombardment  continued 


1 88  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

for  about  thirty-four  hours.  Anderson's  guns 
responded  for  a  short  time  on  the  morning  of  the 
1 3th,  but  it  was  soon  discovered  that  the  fort 
was  on  fire.  Ex-Senator  Wigfall,  of  Texas,  then 
voluntarily  and  without  authority  went  to  the 
fort  in  an  open  boat,  thus  exposing  himself  to 
the  fire;  he  pointed  out  the  hopelessness  of  the 
Federal  position  and  urged  Anderson  to  surren 
der.  The  gallant  major  could  not  do  otherwise. 
It  was  a  bloodless  battle ;  for  although  the  brave 
defenders  clung  to  their  post  until  the  works 
were  in  juins  and  they  had  to  cover  their  ammu 
nition  with  earth  to  prevent  its  exploding,  no  one 
was  injured  except  through  the  bursting  of  some 
of  their  own  cannon  while  a  final  salute  to  the 
Union  flag  was  being  fired. 

The  news  of  the  capitulation  of  Sumter 
reached  Washington  on  the  izj-th  of  April.  It 
electrified  the  North.  Nothing  is  more  difficult 
of  explanation  than  the  sudden  and  complete  re 
version  of  feeling  which  took  place.  This  was 
intensified  by  the  events  at  Baltimore  on  the 
iQth,  when  the  Massachusetts  Sixth  Regiment, 
while  marching  through  that  city,  was  fired  on 
by  the  mob  and  several  soldiers  were  killed  and 
wounded. 

While  the  Southern  States  were  seceding,  the 
North  was  apathetic  if  not  encouraging.  "  Let 
them  go  in  peace,"  was  the  prevailing  verdict. 
The  firing  on  the  "  Star  of  the  West"  had  scarcely 
aroused  an  interest.  The  North  did  not  wish  war. 
She  seemed  to  be  more  afraid  of  loss  of  trade  than 


THE   THREE-MONTHS   WAR  189 

of  disunion.  The  people  expected  and  desired  com 
promise;  but  measures  directed  thereto  had  been 
frustrated  by  their  politicians.  As  soon,  however, 
as  the  gage  of  battle  had  been  thrown  down  or 
taken  up — for  it  is  difficult  to  determine  which — 
by  the  South,  and  war  in  reality  had  begun,  a 
willingness  to  fight  was  manifested.  At  the  same 
time,  we  believe  that  the  men  of  the  North  en 
tered  the  conflict  in  a  comparatively  lightsome 
spirit  of  adventure.  Few  had  the  faintest  realiza 
tion  of  the  manner  of  conflict  that  was  before 
them.  They  thought  the  quarrel  would  speedily 
and  easily  be  ended,  and  that  only  a  show  of  de 
termination  was  necessary  to  convince  the  South 
of  the  error  of  her  ways.  Lincoln  himself,  while 
he  trusted  the  North,  was  not  quite  certain  what 
to  expect.  After  he  had  issued  his  call  for 
seventy-five  thousand  volunteers,  he  was  heard 
to  exclaim,  with  the  impatience  born  of  a  belief 
that  the  Confederacy  would  attack  the  National 
capital,  as  he  walked  the  floor  of  his  office  in  a 
particularly  anxious  hour  of  the  days  of  waiting 
for  the  troops,  "  Why  don't  they  come,  why 
don't  they  come?" 

In  the  free  States  the  call  for  volunteers  was 
responded  to  with  enthusiasm  and  alacrity.  In 
six  of  the  eight  slave  States  which  had  not  se 
ceded  it  was  negatived  with  defiance.  Said  Gov 
ernor  Letcher,  of  Virginia : 

"  The  militia  of  this  State  will  not  be  furnished  to  the 
powers  at  Washington  for  any  such  purpose  as  they  have 
in  view.  Your  object  is  to  subjugate  the  Southern  States, 


1 9o  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

and  a  requisition  made  upon  me  for  such  an  object — an 
object,  in  my  judgment,  not  within  the  province  of  the 
Constitution  or  the  Act  of  1795 — will  not  be  complied  with. 
You  have  chosen  to  inaugurate  civil  war,  and,  having  done 
so,  we  will  meet  it  in  a  spirit  as  determined  as  the  admin 
istration  has  exhibited  towards  the  South." 

Governor  Ellis,  of  North  Carolina,  declared : 

"  I  can  be  no  party  to  this  wicked  violation  of  the  laws 
of  the  country  and  to  this  war  upon  the  liberties  of  a  free 
people.  You  can  get  no  troops  from  North  Carolina." 

Governor  Magoffin  said : 

"  Kentucky  will  furnish  no  troops  for  the  wicked  purpose 
of  subduing  her  sister  Southern  States." 

Harris,  of  Tennessee,  boldly  announced  that 
his  State  would 

"  not  furnish  a  single  man  for  coercion,  but  fifty  thousand, 
if  necessary,  for  the  defence  of  our  rights  or  those  of  our 
Southern  brethren." 

The  reply  of  Governor  Jackson,  of  Missouri, 
was: 

"  Your  requisition  in  my  judgment  is  illegal,  unconstitu 
tional,  and  revolutionary  in  its  object,  inhuman,  and  dia 
bolical,  and  cannot  be  complied  with." 

Rector   was   governor   of   Arkansas,    and   he 
said: 

"  In  answer  to  your  requisition  for  troops  from  Arkansas 
to  subjugate  the  Southern  States,  I  have  to  say  that  none 
will  be  furnished.  The  demand  is  only  adding  insult  to 
injury." 


THE   THREE-MONTHS   WAR  191 

Governor  Hicks,  of  Maryland,  found  himself 
placed  in  a  serious  dilemma.  Not  daring  to  defy 
a  government  with  its  capital  situated  almost 
in  his  own  State,  and  pressed  on  every  side  by 
the  secessionist  element  which  predominated  in 
Maryland,  he  temporized. 

Governor  Burton,  of  Delaware,  waited  until 
the  26th,  when  he  informed  the  President  that  he 
had  no  right  or  authority  to  comply  with  his 
requisition. 

Two  days  after  President  Lincoln's  call  for 
troops,  President  Davis  retaliated  by  issuing  a 
proclamation  inviting  applications  for  letters  of 
marque  and  reprisal  against  the  merchant  ship 
ping  of  the  United  States.  This  was  a  justifiable 
method  of  attack,  because  the  latter  government 
had  refused  to  enter  into  an  international  com 
pact  with  the  European  powers  to  prohibit  priva 
teering.  Lincoln  responded  to  this  menace  with 
a  proclamation  announcing  the  blockade  of  the 
ports  of  the  Confederacy,  which  he  ended  with 
the  ominous  words : 

"And  I  hereby  proclaim  and  declare  that  if  any  person, 
under  the  pretended  authority  of  the  said  States,  or  under 
any  other  pretense,  shall  molest  a  vessel  of  the  United 
States,  or  the  persons  or  cargo  on  board  of  her,  such  per 
son  will  be  held  amenable  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
for  the  prevention  and  punishment  of  piracy." 

On  May  3  Lincoln  called  for  forty  regiments 
of  volunteers,  to  serve  for  three  years  or  during 
the  war,  increased  the  regular  army  by  the  addi- 


i92  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

tion  of  ten  regiments,  and  directed  the  enlistment 
of  eighteen  thousand  seamen. 

In  the  mean  time  events  were  moving  to  the 
advantage  of  the  Confederacy.  It  gained  pos 
session  of  Harper's  Ferry  and  the  Gosport  Navy- 
Yard,  with  such  supplies  contained  therein  as  the 
Federal  commanders  in  their  hasty  exit  had  not 
been  able  to  destroy.  This  prompted  Secretary 
Chase  to  complain  to  the  President  "  that  the 
disunionists  have  anticipated  us  in  everything, 
that  as  yet  we  have  accomplished  nothing  but  the 
destruction  of  our  own  property." 

The  South  was  fortunate  in  the  fact  that  she 
had  sent  her  full  quota  of  men  to  the  Military 
Academy  at  West  Point  as  well  as  to  the  Naval 
Academy  at  Annapolis.  The  majority  of  them 
were  loyal  to  their  States.  The  credit  which 
has  been  lavishly — though  not  improperly — be 
stowed  upon  Robert  E.  Lee  for  the  sincerity  of 
his  motives  cannot  justly  be  denied  the  com 
manders  who  served  under  him.  The  Union  was 
dear  to  him,  and,  though  he  believed  that  the 
South  suffered  under  the  aggressions  of  the 
North,  he  was  not  in  favor  of  secession. 
Nevertheless,  he  held  that  his  allegiance  to 
his  State  was  rightly  primary. 

"A  Union,"  said  he,  "that  can  only  be  maintained  by 
swords  and  bayonets,  and  in  which  strife  and  civil  war  are 
to  take  the  place  of  brotherly  love  and  kindness,  has  no 
charm  for  me.  If  the  Union  is  dissolved  and  the  govern 
ment  is  disrupted,  I  shall  return  to  my  native  State  and 
share  the  miseries  of  my  people,  and,  save  in  defence,  will 
draw  my  sword  on  none." 


GENERAL    ROBERT    E.    LEE 


THE   THREE-MONTHS   WAR  193 

These  sentiments  were  common  to  the  South 
ern  officers  who  brought  to  the  Confederacy  an 
experience  gained  in  the  United  States  army. 
They  could  not  have  been  so  ill-advised  as  to 
change  their  allegiance  for  ambitious  reasons. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  not  a  few  Southern 
men,  such  as  General  Thomas  and  Admiral  Far- 
ragut,  remained  in  the  Federal  service,  and  that 
many  Northern  men,  conspicuous  among  whom 
were  General  Gorgas  and  General  Francis  A. 
Sharp,  cast  their  lot  with  the  secessionists.  Lee 
was  indirectly  offered  the  post  of  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  Federal  army ;  but  his  heart  would 
not  permit  him  to  lead  an  army  of  invasion  into 
his  native  Virginia.  He  resigned  his  commis 
sion  in  the  Federal  army,  and  a  few  days  later 
accepted  that  of  commander-in-chief  of  the  Vir 
ginia  State  forces. 

The  South  rallied  with  an  enthusiasm  certainly 
equal  to  that  of  the  North.  Aristocrat  and  ple 
beian  joined  shoulder  to  shoulder  for  the  protec 
tion,  as  they  believed,  of  their  homes  and  rights. 

"The  flower  of  the  Southern  youth,  the  prime  of  South 
ern  manhood,  are  collected  in  the  camps  of  Virginia.  Some 
of  the  most  remarkable  of  these  are  here  in  the  close 
neighborhood  of  Richmond.  Genius,  learning,  and  wealth, 
enough  to  furnish  the  aristocracy  of  an  empire,  wear  the 
coarse  gray  of  the  common  soldier  and  learn  the  use  of 
the  soldier's  common  weapon." 

"  In  the  South  the  volunteers  who  spring  to  arms  with 
so  much  alacrity  are  men  of  substance  and  position,  wealthy 
farmers  and  planters,  with  their  sons,  professional  men, 
merchants  and  their  clerks,  intelligent  and  industrious  me 
chanics,  and,  indeed,  from  every  art,  trade,  profession,  and 

13 


i94  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

occupation;  the  wealth,  intelligence,  industry,  and  back 
bone  of  society  have  rallied  for  the  defence  of  their  homes 
and  for  the  assertion  of  constitutional  liberty." 

But  the  army  of  the  South  was  wofully  lacking 
in  equipment.  It  possessed  no  ready  means  for 
the  manufacture  of  arms  and  ammunition.  It 
depended  at  first  upon  a  quantity  of  rifles  of  a 
discarded  pattern,  which  had  been  distributed 
through  the  States.  Flintlock  muskets  were 
adapted  to  the  use  of  percussion  caps.  The  caps 
were,  in  great  part,  smuggled  through  from  Bal 
timore,  and  the  supply  was  extremely  limited. 
On  July  13  President  Davis  wrote : 

"  I  could  get  twenty  thousand  men  from  Mississippi,  who 
impatiently  await  for  notice  that  they  can  be  armed.  In 
Georgia  numerous  tenders  are  made  to  serve  for  any  time, 
at  any  place,  and  to  these  and  other  offers  I  am  still  con 
strained  to  answer  '  I  have  not  arms  to  supply  you." 

But  what  the  Southern  troops  lacked  in  fight 
ing  material  they  made  up  in  provision  for  their 
personal  comfort.  General  Johnston  refers  to 
the  delay  occasioned  by  heavy  baggage,  and  says 
that  every  common  soldier  came  to  the  front 
provided  with  a  trunk. 

On  the  24th  of  May  General  Benjamin  Butler, 
by  means  of  an  epigram,  inserted  the  point  of  the 
wedge  which  thrust  the  institution  of  slavery 
from  the  Southern  States.  He  had  been  ordered 
to  the  command  at  Fortress  Monroe.  The  ad 
vent  of  Union  troops  frightened  the  white  in 
habitants  of  Hampton  from  their  homes,  and  in 
the  confusion  three  negroes  escaped  to  the  Union 


THE   THREE-MONTHS    WAR  195 

camp.  They  belonged  to  Colonel  Mallory,  of 
the  Confederate  army,  who  intended  to  remove 
them  to  North  Carolina  and  there  employ  their 
services  upon  the  Confederate  fortifications. 
Butler  needed  labor.  He  argued  that  if  they  had 
been  horses  or  arms  or  tools  he  would  have 
appropriated  and  used  them  without  hesitation. 
"  These  men,"  said  he,  "  are  contraband  of  war; 
set  them  at  work."  The  sentence  was  epoch- 
making  in  its  effect.  Other  negroes  came  in  to 
the  number  of  more  than  nine  hundred.  They 
were  all  welcomed  and  employed.  The  Northern 
Secretary  of  War  justified  Butler's  view  of  the 
matter. 

In  the  mean  time  the  navies  of  both  sides  were 
beginning  to  play  their  important  part  in  the 
struggle.  President  Davis's  offer  to  grant  letters 
of  marque  and  reprisal  was  met  with  a  quick  and 
ample  response;  and  President  Lincoln's  block 
ade  of  the  Southern  ports  provided  activity  for 
all  the  vessels  at  his  command.  In  March,  1863, 
the  United  States  Congress  passed  a  bill  author 
izing  the  President  to  issue  letters;  but  he  did 
not  do  so,  probably  for  the  reason  that  it  would 
be  considered  "  a  recognition  of  the  assumption 
of  the  insurgents  that  they  are  a  distinct  and 
independent  nationality."  The  Royal  Gazette, 
of  England,  also  published  a  pertinent  comment 
on  this  matter: 

"The  United  States  Congress,  in  its  last  session,  au 
thorized  the  President,  if  he  deemed  it  proper,  to  issue 
letters  of  marque.  His  having  not  done  so,  in  view  of  the 


196  THE   TRUE   CIVIL  WAR 

destruction  of  property  by  the  "Alabama"  and  the  "  Florida," 
is  severely  censured  by  a  writer  in  one  of  the  late  New 
York  papers.  This  writer  suggests  that  a  reward  of  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars  be  given  to  any  letter  of  marque 
that  should  capture  and  bring  into  any  of  the  ports  of  the 
United  States  any  Confederate  privateer,  or  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  the  sinking  or  otherwise  de 
stroying  of  such  a  privateer.  The  writer  concluded  by 
observing  that  the  '  almighty  dollar  might  then  be  the  means 
of  bringing  privateering  to  an  end/ 

"  We  can  hardly  understand  why  such  a  measure  should 
be  adopted.  When  patriotism  is  not  sufficient  to  induce 
men  to  serve  their  country,  is  it  probable  that  the  dollar 
will?  Will  the  dollar  inspire  courage  in  a  man  when  the 
sight  of  his  lowered  flag  fails  to  do  so?  And,  besides,  are 
there  not  enough  United  States  ships-of-war  skimming  the 
seas  after  the  "Alabama"  and  the  "  Florida,"  the  only  two 
known  Confederate  privateers,  and  are  these  Federal  ves 
sels  not  commanded  by  admirals  and  officers  that  the  Union 
boasts  of?  The  issuing  by  the  Washington  government  of 
letters  of  marque  would  be,  indeed,  an  acknowledgment  of 
the  inefficiency  of  their  navy  compared  to  the  two  or  three 
comparatively  small  vessels-of-war  owned  by  the  Confed 
eracy,  and  of  the  incapacity  of  the  men  at  the  head  of  their 
fleet."  (Scharf's  "The  Confederate  Navy,"  p.  61.) 

The  privateers  soon  became  a  very  efficient 
department  of  the  Southern  navy.  They  almost 
succeeded  in  driving  the  United  States  merchant 
marine  from  the  seas.  The  "  Alabama"  captured 
no  less  than  sixty-nine  vessels  of  various  descrip 
tion  during  her  career.  It  was  an  exceedingly 
effective  method  of  damaging  the  North  and 
rendering  her  people  weary  of  the  war. 

The  New  York  Herald  of  May  7,  1861,  printed 
a  letter  from  a  correspondent  in  Montgomery 
which  throws  a  curious  light  on  this  feature  of 
our  civil  strife.  "  But  it  may  be  asked/'  it  says, 


THE   THREE-MONTHS   WAR  197 

"who  will  take  these  letters  of  marque  [issued 
by  President  Davis]  ?  Where  is  the  government 
at  Montgomery  to  find  ships?  The  answer  is  to 
be  found  in  the  fact  that  already  numerous  appli 
cations  have  been  received  from  the  ship-owners 
of  New  England,  from  the  whalers  of  New  Bed 
ford,  and  from  others  in  the  Northern  States  for 
these  very  letters  of  marque,  accompanied  by  the 
highest  securities  and  guarantees!  This  state 
ment  I  make  on  the  very  highest  authority."  It 
would  be  extremely  interesting  if  we  could  de 
monstrate  the  veracity  of  this  authority. 

The  first  privateer  which  received  a  commis 
sion  from  the  Confederate  States  was  the  "  Sa 
vannah."  She  was  also  the  first  to  be  captured. 
She  was  a  schooner  of  fifty-four  tons,  carrying 
one  eighteen-pound  gun.  Her  crew  numbered 
thirty-two.  The  career  of  the  "  Savannah"  was 
a  brief  one.  Putting  to  sea  on  the  3d  of  June, 
she  immediately  fell  in  with  and  made  prize  of 
the  brig  "  Joseph,"  of  Rockland,  Maine.  Ex 
ulting  over  this  success,  the  "  Savannah"  next 
encountered  the  United  States  brig  "  Terry," 
disguised  as  a  merchantman.  The  privateer  was 
confident  of  another  prize;  but  no  sooner  had 
she  come  within  gun-range  than  the  sides  of  the 
brig  yawned  with  portholes  and  bristled  with 
guns.  A  short  chase  with  a  few  shots  which 
disabled  her  rigging  convinced  the  Confederate 
of  the  wisdom  of  surrendering.  Her  crew  were 
transferred  to  the  United  States  man-of-war 
"  Minnesota,"  by  which  they  were  conveyed  in 


198  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

irons  to  New  York,  where  they  were  incarcerated 
in  the  Tombs.  President  Lincoln,  as  we  have 
seen,  in  a  proclamation,  declared  that  the  officers 
and  crew  of  privateers  would  be  dealt  with  under 
the  laws  relating  to  piracy.  The  crew  of  the 
"  Savannah"  were  so  tried.  But  it  was  soon 
made  apparent  both  by  Northern  and  English 
jurists  that  there  was  no  law  to  sustain  such  a 
position.  It  was  with  seeming  reluctance,  how 
ever,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  receded  from  his  position ; 
and  it  is  probable  that  he  was  influenced  by  the 
Confederate  threat  of  retaliation  more  than  by 
any  other  argument.  As  soon  as  it  became 
known  in  the  South  that  Captain  Baker  and  his 
crew  were  in  irons,  thirteen  Federal  prisoners 
of  war  were  placed  in  close  confinement,  and 
Washington  was  notified  that  such  punishment 
would  be  meted  out  to  them  as  might  be  inflicted 
on  the  privateer's  men. 

The  Confederate  government  availed  itself  to 
the  utmost  possibility  of  injury  to  the  North  by 
destroying  private  property  on  the  high  seas. 
Almost  all  the  success  of  the  Southern  navy 
was  thus  won.  The  most  prominent  of  its 
vessels  were  the  "  Sumter,"  the  "  Florida,"  the 
"  Alabama,"  and  the  "  Shenandoah."  For  the 
losses  inflicted  by  all  but  the  first  named,  which 
was  purchased  by  the  Confederacy  in  April,  1861, 
the  United  States  obtained  redress  from  Eng 
land,  on  account  of  the  fact  that  they  were  fitted 
out  in  her  ports.  The  sum  of  $15,500,000  was 
awarded  by  the  Board  of  Arbitration,  sitting  at 


THE   THREE-MONTHS   WAR  199 

Geneva,  Switzerland,  in  settlement  of  the  Ala 
bama  claims.  The  "  Sumter"  was  a  vessel  of 
four  hundred  and  thirty-seven  tons,  barkentine 
rigged,  also  having  a  propeller.  She  was  put 
into  commission  on  the  3d  of  June,  1861,  as  a 
vessel-of-war  of  the  Confederate  States.  Com 
mander  Semmes  received  instructions  "  to  do  the 
enemy's  commerce  the  greatest  injury  in  the 
shortest  time."  These  instructions  were  obeyed 
to  the  letter.  Many  prizes  were  made  in  Amer 
ican  and  European  waters,  until,  at  last,  being 
blockaded  at  Gibraltar  by  the  Federal  vessels 
"Kearsarge,"  "  Chippewa,"  and  "  Tuscarora," 
Semmes  laid  the  "  Sumter"  up  and  paid  off  his 
crew. 

Orders  were  issued  for  the  first  invasion  of 
Virginia  on  May  23,  1861.  About  thirteen  thou 
sand  men,  under  the  command  of  General  Mans 
field,  crossed  the  Potomac.  Alexandria  was 
entered  with  little  or  no  opposition.  A  casualty 
occurred  there,  however,  which  was  exaggerated 
in  importance  by  the  North.  Colonel  Ellsworth, 
commanding  the  New  York  Fire  Zouaves,  seeing 
a  Confederate  flag  flying  over  the  cupola  of  the 
Marshall  House,  desired  its  removal.  Instead  of 
sending  a  corporal  to  lower  it,  as  the  dignity 
of  his  position  required,  Ellsworth  went  through 
the  house  without  a  by-your-leave  and  seized  it 
himself.  On  returning,  he  was  met  in  the  hall  by 
Jackson,  the  proprietor.  "  This  is  my  trophy," 
said  Ellsworth.  "  And  you  are  mine !"  exclaimed 
the  innkeeper,  instantly  shooting  him  dead.  His 


200  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

death  produced  intense  excitement  in  the  North, 
Ellsworth  being  popular  for  his  handsome  figure 
and  generosity.  An  "  atrocious  murder,"  it  was 
called.  Jackson,  the  hotel-keeper,  was  himself 
slain  immediately  after  what  the  people  of  the 
South  regarded  as  his  "  gallant  act  done  in  de 
fence  of  his  country's  flag." 

Virginia  during  these  stirring  events  was 
experiencing  a  secession  within  her  own  State 
borders.  While  her  convention  was  seemingly 
hovering  between  allegiance  to  the  North  and 
to  the  South,  one  of  the  members  from  western 
Virginia  offered  a  set  of  resolutions  in  which 
the  following  words  were  contained : 

"  The  right  of  revolution  can  be  exercised  as  well  by  a 
portion  of  the  citizens  of  a  State  against  their  State  gov 
ernment,  as  it  can  be  exercised  by  the  whole  people  of  a 
State  against  their  Federal  government.  .  .  .  And  that  any 
change  of  the  relation  Virginia  now  sustains  to  the  Federal 
government,  against  the  wishes  of  even  a  respectable  mi 
nority  of  her  people,  would  be  such  an  act  of  injustice  per 
petrated  upon  the  rights  of  that  minority  as  to  justify  them 
in  changing  their  relation  to  the  State  government  by  sepa 
rating  themselves  from  that  section  of  the  State  that  had 
thus  wantonly  disregarded  their  interests  and  defied  their 
will." 

The  people  of  the  western  part  of  Virginia 
were  divided  from  the  rest  of  the  State  by  the 
character  of  their  soil  and  (a  result  of  this)  their 
freedom  from  slavery.  Their  sympathy  was  with 
the  North.  These  circumstances  led  to  the  crea 
tion  of  the  State  of  West  Virginia,  soon  an  accom 
plished  though  an  entirely  unconstitutional  fact. 


THE   THREE-MONTHS   WAR  201 

Both  Northern  and  Southern  historians  have 
been  careful  to  set  forth  reasons  for  the  presence 
of  their  respective  armies  in  Virginia.  They  as 
sume  that  an  excuse  is  needed.  But  this  seems 
hardly  necessary,  as  the  State  was  the  natural 
meeting-place  of  the  main  combating  forces. 
The  Confederate  troops  were  concentrated  on 
the  south  bank  of  the  Potomac,  awaiting  the 
movement  of  the  Northern  regiments  around 
Washington.  Major-General  Patterson,  pur 
posing  to  march  into  the  western  counties  of 
Virginia,  moved  from  Pennsylvania  with  an 
army.  General  McClellan  moved  four  regiments 
by  different  routes  to  Grafton,  where  Porterfield, 
with  a  small  Confederate  command,  was  harass 
ing  the  country.  The  latter  retreated  to  Phil- 
lippi,  followed  by  a  West  Virginia  regiment,  and 
there  suffered  a  defeat.  This  skirmish  became 
known  as  the  "  Phillippi  Races."  To  repair  this 
loss  the  Confederate  authorities  sent  ex-Gov 
ernor  Henry  A.  Wise  and  General  Garnett  to 
this  region.  Colonel  Pegram  took  a  position  in 
the  pass  at  Rich  Mountain  with  a  regiment  and 
six  guns.  Lee,  under  whose  command  these 
forces  were  combined,  was  at  Laurel  Hill  with 
four  regiments. 

At  the  beginning  of  July  General  McClellan 
determined  to  clear  West  Virginia  of  these  Con 
federate  troops.  On  the  nth  Brigadier-General 
Rosecrans,  with  nineteen  hundred  men,  as 
cended  Rich  Mountain  from  the  south,  while 
Pegram  was  expecting  him  to  make  the  attempt 


202  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

at  the  north.  The  latter  made  a  plucky  resist 
ance,  but  was  overpowered  by  numbers,  losing 
about  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  killed  and 
about  twenty  wounded,  while  twenty-one  were 
made  prisoners.  On  the  I3th,  after  a  vain  at 
tempt  to  get  out  of  the  toils  which  McClellan 
had  thrown  around  him,  Pegram  and  his  whole 
command  surrendered  at  Beverly  as  prisoners 
of  war.  On  the  I4th  Garnett  was  beaten  at  Car- 
rick's  Ford  by  a  greatly  superior  Union  force 
and  himself  killed.  McClellan  telegraphed : 

"  Garnett  and  forces  routed ;  his  baggage  and  one  gun 
taken;  his  army  demoralized;  Garnett  killed.  We  have 
annihilated  the  enemy  in  Western  Virginia,  and  have  lost 
thirteen  killed,  and  not  more  than  forty  wounded.  We 
have  in  all  killed  at  least  two  hundred  of  the  enemy,  and 
their  prisoners  will  amount  to  at  least  one  thousand.  Have 
taken  seven  guns  in  all.  I  still  look  for  the  capture  of  the 
remnant  of  Garnett's  army  by  General  Hill.  The  troops 
defeated  are  the  crack  regiment  of  eastern  Virginia,  aided 
by  Georgians,  Tennesseeans,  and  Carolinians.  Our  success 
is  complete,  and  secession  is  killed  in  this  country." 

The  Confederates  were  in  possession  of  Har 
per's  Ferry.  General  Patterson  concluded  (and 
in  the  opinion  he  was  supported  by  Scott)  that 
the  taking  of  this  position  would  have  a  good 
moral  effect  in  the  encouragement  of  Virginia 
Unionists  and  would,  also,  protect  Maryland. 
Patterson  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  on 
June  10: 

"  I  beseech  you,  therefore,  by  our  ancient  friendship,  give 
me  the  means  of  success.  You  have  the  means;  place  them 


THE   THREE-MONTHS   WAR  203 

at  my  disposal,  and  shoot  me  if  I  do  not  use  them  to 
advantage." 

But  Johnston  did  not  attach  the  importance  to 
Harper's  Ferry  that  his  opponent  supposed.  He 
retreated  upon  Winchester.  Beauregard  was  at 
Manassas.  The  authorities  at  Washington, 
having  determined  upon  a  movement  against  this 
place,  gave  Patterson  the  task  of  preventing 
Johnston  from  effecting  a  juncture  with  Beaure 
gard.  His  failure  to  block  Johnston's  move 
ments  was  the  direct  and  only  strategic  cause  of 
the  Federal  defeat  at  Bull  Run.  His  order  from 
Scott  was : 

"  If  not  strong  enough  to  beat  the  enemy  early  next  week, 
make  demonstrations  so  as  to  detain  him  in  the  valley  of 
Winchester;  but  if  he  retreats  in  force  towards  Manassas, 
and  if  too  hazardous  to  follow  him,  then  consider  the  route 
via  Keys  Ferry,  Leesburg,  etc." 

On  the  1 8th  Scott  again  telegraphed: 

"  I  have  certainly  been  expecting  you  to  beat  the  enemy. 
If  not,  to  hear  that  you  had  felt  him  strongly,  or,  at  least, 
had  occupied  him  by  threats  and  demonstrations.  You  have 
been  at  least  his  equal,  and  I  suppose  superior  in  numbers. 
Has  he  not  stolen  a  march  and  sent  reinforcements  towards 
Manassas  Junction?  A  week  is  enough  to  win  victories." 

Patterson  replied : 

"  The  enemy  has  stolen  no  march  upon  me.  I  have  kept 
him  actively  employed,  and,  by  threats  and  reconnoissances 
in  force,  caused  him  to  be  reinforced.  I  have  accomplished 
in  this  respect  more  than  the  general-in-chief  asked,  or  could 
well  be  expected  in  face  of  an  enemy  far  superior  in  num 
bers  with  no  line  of  communication  to  protect." 


204  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

There  is  only  one  fault  that  can  be  found  with 
this  dignified  response;  it  was  not  true.  John 
ston  was  no  more  than  two-thirds  as  strong  as 
Patterson;  he  was  already  stealing  the  march, 
though  Patterson  did  not  discover  this  until  two 
days  later.  On  the  i/th  of  July  his  army  marched 
to  Charleston,  thus  doubling  the  distance  be 
tween  himself  and  Johnston.  The  latter  was 
alert  to  the  opportunity,  and  on  the  i8th  his 
advance  regiments  passed  through  Ashby's  Gap 
in  the  Blue  Ridge.  By  the  morning  of  the  fol 
lowing  day  they  had  reached  the  Manassas  Gap 
Railroad,  and  seven  regiments  were  in  Beaure- 
gard's  camp  that  afternoon.  Johnston  arrived 
next  day  with  the  last  detachment  of  his  force, 
in  time  to  join  battle  that  same  afternoon,  Sun 
day,  the  20th,  and  turn  the  first  great  fight  to 
the  advantage  of  the  Confederacy. 

McDowell  was  in  command  of  the  Union 
forces  which  engaged  in  the  Manassas  campaign. 
The  plan  of  battle  was  formulated  by  himself, 
and  he  emphatically  stated  that  he  could  not  hope 
to  beat  the  combined  armies  of  the  two  Confed 
erate  generals.  But  Scott  gave  him  the  assur 
ance  that,  "  If  Johnston  joins  Beauregard  he  shall 
have  Patterson  on  his  heels." 

The  men  under  McDowell  were  extremely 
poor  war  material.  They  were  all  three-months 
volunteers,  and  entirely  unacquainted  with  ef 
fective  discipline.  McDowell  said  of  them : 

"  When    marching    they    stopped    every    moment    to    pick 
blackberries  or  get  water,  they  would  not  keep  in  the  ranks, 


THE   THREE-MONTHS   WAR  205 

order  as  much  as  you  pleased;  when  they  came  where 
water  was  fresh,  they  would  pour  the  old  water  out  of 
their  canteens  and  fill  them  with  fresh  water;  they  were 
not  used  to  denying  themselves  much;  they  were  not  used 
to  journeys  on  foot." 


The  term  of  enlistment  of  many  of  the  men  was 
expiring,  and  they  were  leaving.  One  Pennsyl 
vania  regiment,  whose  service  had  ended,  turned 
its  back  upon  the  army  on  the  morning  of  the 
battle. 

The  Confederate  forces  were  intrenched  in  a 
line  extending  eight  miles  along  the  course  of 
Bull  Run,  defending  seven  fords  and  a  bridge. 
McDowell  held  his  position  at  Centreville.  His 
plan  was  to  outflank  his  enemy.  Owing  to  the 
failure  of  his  engineers  to  find  a  ford,  this  was 
not  attempted  until  the  2ist,  thus  giving  time  for 
Johnston's  reinforcements,  which  had  escaped 
Patterson,  to  arrive.  The  main  force,  under  Mc 
Dowell,  marched  by  night,  and,  crossing  at  Sud- 
ley's  Ford,  attacked  the  end  of  the  Confederate 
line,  while  feints  were  being  made  at  the  centre. 
The  brigades  under  Evans  and  Bee  received  the 
brunt  of  the  onset,  and  after  a  stiff  resistance 
were  thrown  into  confusion.  While  striving  to 
restore  order  to  his  troops,  Bee  called  their  at 
tention  to  Jackson  and  his  men  "  standing  like  a 
stone  wall."  Johnston  notes  that  at  the  moment 
those  of  Jackson's  brigade  who  were  in  sight  of 
Bee's  men  were  lying  down  to  avoid  the  enemy's 
artillery.  The  presence  of  Johnston  and  Beaure- 
gard,  who  came  galloping  to  the  scene,  rallied 


206  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

the  Confederates,  and  a  line  was  re-formed  at 
right  angles  to  the  original.  More  than  once 
during  the  day  it  seemed  as  if  the  Southern 
army  was  beaten  and  on  the  point  of  going  to 
pieces.  In  fact,  President  Davis,  whose  anxiety 
drew  him  from  Richmond  to  the  field  of  battle, 
met  Confederate  fugitives  on  the  way,  who  as 
sured  him  that  all  was  lost.  But  belated  and 
fresh  detachments  of  Johnston's  army  kept 
breaking  into  the  battle,  and  at  last  the  fear  grew 
upon  the  Union  troops  that  they  were  beaten. 
Their  total  lack  of  discipline  resulted  in  the  panic 
which  followed.  Captain  Woodbury  says : 

"At  four  o'clock  on  the  2ist  there  were  more  than  twelve 
thousand  volunteers  on  the  battle-field  of  Bull  Run  who  had 
entirely  lost  their  regimental  organization.  They  could  no 
more  be  handled  as  troops,  for  the  officers  and  men  were 
not  together.  Men  and  officers  mingled  promiscuously ;  and 
it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  this  disorganization  did  not 
result  from  defeat  or  fear." 

But  the  impression  that  they  were  beaten  grew 
to  conviction  in  the  minds  of  the  Federal  troops, 
and  to  the  astonishment  of  their  enemies,  whose 
leaders  did  not  seem  to  have  the  battle  well  in 
hand,  a  spontaneous  retreat  soon  broke  into  an 
awful  panic. 

Sightseers — and  among  them  members  of 
Congress — had  come  out  from  Washington  in 
their  carriages,  "  to  see  the  rebels  run."  But,  as 
one  of  the  latter  put  it,  the  cry  "  On  to  Rich 
mond"  was  now  changed  to  "  Off  for  Washing 
ton."  The  fear  of  the  retreating  men  gathered 


THE   THREE-MONTHS   WAR  207 

momentum  as  they  ran.  Soon  there  was  a  head 
long  flight,  in  which  mingled,  in  wild  and  con 
fused  jumble,  carnages  and  cannon,  soldiers  and 
civilians.  They  ran  without  cause;  for  the  vic 
tors  were  themselves  so  much  surprised  at  their 
success  that  they  made  no  pursuit  worth  men 
tioning. 

When,  on  the  following  day,  these  multitudes 
of  haggard  and  begrimed  fugitives  poured  into 
Washington,  it  seemed  to  many  that  the  Union 
cause  was  lost  and  that  immediately  the  capital 
itself  would  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Confederacy. 


IX 

PREPARATIONS   FOR  THE   LONG   CONFLICT 

THE  Northern  disaster  at  Manassas  (Bull 
Run),  July  21,  1861,  had  markedly  different 
effects  on  the  mental  attitude  of  the  two  sections. 
The  South  thought  the  war  was  over ;  the  North 
saw  that  it  had  only  begun.  The  Confederate 
volunteers  believed,  with  one  of  their  poets,  that 
the  artillery  of  the  North  had  been  stilled;  that 
they  had  whipped  the  despised  Yankees  and 
driven  them  bleeding  homeward;  that  thence 
they  would  not  come  back  for  a  second  drubbing. 
So  general  was  this  conviction,  and  so  slight  a 
sense  of  discipline  existed  among  the  soldiers  of 
the  South,  that  after  the  battle  many  went  back 
to  their  homes,  believing  that  there  was  no  fur 
ther  need  of  their  services.  The  wisest  of  their 
leaders,  however,  knew  otherwise.  Jefferson 
Davis  had  from  the  first  been  convinced  that 
there  was  no  hope  of  the  permanent  establish 
ment  of  a  Southern  nation  except  by  means  of 
a  prolonged  and  bloody  struggle.  The  courage 
of  a  man  who  was  willing  to  accept  the  leader 
ship  with  such  a  conviction  and  with  a  clear  per 
ception  of  the  disproportionate  resources  of  the 
two  contending  parties,  is  in  itself  worthy  of 
commendation,  though  his  judgment  may  be 

open  to  criticism. 
208 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   THE   CONFLICT 


209 


The  North  was  now  aroused  in  a  different 
manner  from  what  it  had  been  by  the  bombard 
ment  of  Sumter.  The  "  bloodletting"  desired 
by  Senator  Chandler  had  come  to  pass.  After 
Sumter,  the  men  of  the  North  freely  responded 
to  Lincoln's  call,  with  the  idea  that  they  were  to 
administer  a  salutary  but  light  castigation  to  the 
erring  South.  They  volunteered  for  three 
months'  service,  the  majority  thinking  that  a 
summer's  outing  in  the  South,  enlivened  by  mili 
tary  operations  (of  the  seriousness  of  which  they 
knew  nothing  by  experience),  would  be  hardly 
more  than  a  frolic.  But  after  Manassas  frolic 
was  over,  for  honor  had  to  be  retrieved  and  re 
venge  satisfied.  The  North  was  now  thoroughly 
angered  and  was  determined  to  fight  the  South 
to  a  stand-still.  Anglo-Saxon  doggedness,  which 
is  born  of  encounter  with  obstacles,  brushed 
away  all  propositions  of  conciliation  and  forced  the 
issue. 

Mr.  Crittenden,  who  won  everlasting  honor  by 
his  earnest  counsels  for  peace,  introduced  (July, 
1861)  a  resolution  in  the  House  that  well  sets 
forth  the  opinion  of  the  bulk  of  the  Northern 
people.  It  ran  thus : 

"  The  war  is  not  waged  in  any  spirit  of  oppression,  or 
for  any  purpose  of  conquest  or  subjugation,  or  the  over 
throwing  or  interfering  with  the  rights  or  established  insti 
tutions  of  those  States,  but  to  defend  and  maintain  the 
supremacy  of  the  Constitution,  and  to  preserve  the  Union 
with  all  the  dignity,  equality,  and  rights  of  the  several 
States  unimpaired,  and  that  as  soon  as  these  objects  are 
accomplished  the  war  ought  to  cease." 

M 


210  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

This  resolution  was  adopted  by  both  Houses. 
In  the  discussion  which  arose  over  it  in  the  Sen 
ate,  it  was  agreed  that  slavery  in  the  South  was 
not  to  be  molested;  but  when  Harris  of  New 
York  said  that  if  it  should  be  abolished  as  the 
result  of  the  war  he  would  not  shed  a  tear,  he 
gave  expression  to  the  feeling  of  the  largely  in 
creased  radical  party  in  the  North.  The  time 
was  near  at  hand  when  the  majority  of  the  people 
who  believed  in  the  war  were  to  expect  the  abo 
lition  of  slavery  as  its  consequence. 

The  ultimate  defeat  of  the  South  was  a  fore 
gone  conclusion  from  the  start.  There  being  no 
racial  distinction,  courage  and  spirit  being  equal, 
the  vast  preponderance  of  resources  in  the  North 
confronted  the  South  as  with  an  inevitable  fate. 

When  Congress  met,  July  4,  1861,  there  were 
in  attendance  forty-nine  Senators,  —  thirty-one 
Republicans  and  eighteen  members  opposed  to 
the  policy  of  the  administration,  ten  Democrats 
and  eight  Unionists,  men  of  the  conservative 
type,  who,  though  in  favor  of  the  war,  were  op 
posed  to  any  interference  with  slavery.  In  the 
House  there  were  one  hundred  and  six  Repub 
licans  and  seventy-two  of  the  opposition,  forty- 
two  of  whom  were  Democrats.  Thus  Congress 
was  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  voting  the  gov 
ernment  everything  needed  to  prosecute  the 
war. 

On  the  day  after  the  defeat  at  Manassas  (July 
21,  1861)  the  House  of  Representatives  passed 
a  resolution : 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   THE   CONFLICT     211 

"  That  the  maintenance  of  the  Constitution,  the  preser 
vation  of  the  Union,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  are 
sacred  trusts  which  must  be  executed ;  that  no  disaster  shall 
discourage  us  from  the  ample  performance  of  this  most 
sacred  duty;  and  that  we  pledge  to  the  country  and  to 
the  world  the  employment  of  every  resource,  national  and 
individual,  for  the  suppression,  overthrow,  and  punishment 
of  the  rebels  in  arms." 

This  resolution  received  the  abundant  and  en 
thusiastic  support  of  the  people. 

The  previous  military  acts  of  the  President, 
which  were  of  doubtful  constitutionality,  were 
ratified.  His  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus — so  forcefully  employed  in  the  border 
States  —  was  also  tacitly  acquiesced  in.  The 
President  was  authorized  to  enlist  volunteers  to 
the  number  of  five  hundred  thousand,  for  a  maxi 
mum  service  of  three  years.  The  appointment  of 
general  officers  was  left  to  him,  subject  to  the 
consent  of  the  Senate.  He  was  furthermore  au 
thorized  to  make  substantial  additions  to  the 
regular  army  and  to  increase  the  volunteer  force 
to  a  million  men.  Carte  blanche  was  given  him 
in  the  matter  of  the  increase  of  the  navy.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  permitted  to  bor 
row  two  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars,  on 
the  credit  of  the  government,  by  the  issue  of 
treasury  notes.  Duties  on  imports  were  in 
creased,  thus  providing  for  the  levying  of  a  direct 
annual  tax  of  twenty  million  dollars.  Provision 
was  made  for  an  annual  income  tax,  the  levying 
of  which  the  Supreme  Court  has  since  declared 
unconstitutional.  These  resources  placed  nearly 


212  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

one  million  dollars  a  day  in  the  hands  of  the 
government  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  the 
war.  On  the  6th  of  August,  having  employed 
the  whole  of  the  short  session  in  placing  the 
government  on  a  war  footing,  Congress  ad 
journed,  leaving  President  Lincoln  practically  in 
the  position  of  absolute  dictator.  On  that  one 
occasion  was  recognized  the  principle  that  the 
Constitution  was  made  for  the  Union  and  not 
the  Union  for  the  Constitution. 

When  Congress  convened  again  the  following 
December,  it  reflected  the  change  that  had  taken 
place  in  the  North  regarding  the  wisdom  of  abol 
ishing  slavery.  The  North  had  accepted  the  ne 
cessity  of  war.  The  Republican  party  was  united 
in  its  hearty  support  of  the  President.  The  Dem 
ocratic  party,  it  is  true,  was  still  for  peace,  but 
it  was  constantly  losing  by  desertion  to  the  Re 
publican  ranks,  and  there  were  not  a  few  war 
Democrats. 

But  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  war 
Republican  prestige  fluctuated  in  accordance 
with  the  success  or  failure  of  Northern  arms.  In 
the  autumn  of  1862,  after  the  Confederacy  had 
surprised  the  North  with  the  amount  of  its  fight 
ing  strength,  considerable  opposition  to  the 
President  manifested  itself  at  the  elections  out 
side  of  New  England ;  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Wisconsin  showed 
decided  gains  for  the  Democracy;  but  subse 
quently,  with  the  triumph  of  the  Federal  armies, 
the  Republicans  gained  renewed  strength,  and 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   THE   CONFLICT     213 

in  1864  re-elected  Lincoln  to  the  Presidency.  To 
lose  sight  of  the  political  situation  at  the  North 
during  the  war — a  situation  Lincoln  had  to  keep 
constantly  before  him — is  to  lose  sight  of  fully 
half  of  his  work. 

The  political  situation  in  the  South  is  of  no  less 
importance.  The  case  of  Davis  presents  many 
contrasts.  His  temperament  was  obstinate  and 
domineering.  He  soon  made  all  branches  of  the 
government  subservient  to  his  will,  although 
there  were  both  a  Congress  and  a  Supreme 
Court.  He  was  the  State.  And  this  unfortunate 
disposition  alienated  from  him  some  of  the  ablest 
men  of  the  South, — men  who  were  ardent  sup 
porters  of  the  independence  of  their  section  and 
whose  self-sacrificing  spirit  could  not  be  chal 
lenged. 

Despite  the  loyalty  of  her  citizens  to  the 
South,  her  President  from  the  inception  of 
the  war  found  himself  faced  by  a  bitter  oppo 
sition  that  again  and  again  thwarted  his  plans 
and  refused  to  support  his  measures.  The 
spirit  of  antagonism  to  the  executive  mani 
fested  in  the  North  was  as  bitter  in  vitupera 
tion  of  Lincoln,  but  he  could  always  count  on 
the  support  of  Congress  and  the  obedience  of 
his  officials,  but  this  Davis  could  not  always  do, 
and  the  result  was  unhappy.  Now  that  the  war 
is  far  in  the  past,  the  tendency  to  idealize  Lin 
coln  and  Davis  is  present  and  increasing,  but  in 
their  days  of  power  they  were  the  most  vilified 
men  in  America.  Stanton  wrote  of  "  the  pain- 


2i4  THE  TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

ful  imbecility"  of  Lincoln,  and  Governor  Curtin 
said  "  the  country  is  at  the  mercy  of  a  dotard," 
while  Bowles  called  him  "  a  simple  Susan,"  and, 
when  fortune  was  against  the  Northern  arms 
and  passions  ran  wild,  even  worse  things  were 
said  of  Lincoln  by  the  dissatisfied  and  the  ma 
licious.  Davis  endured  no  less  bitter  vitupera 
tion,  and  with  less  opportunity  to  receive  it  with 
equanimity.  The  Confederate  President  was 
in  a  position  for  which  he  was  not  fitted  and 
which  he  did  not  desire.  It  is  a  thankless  task 
to  lead  a  losing  cause. 

At  a  new  election,  Davis  and  Stephens  were 
re-elected.  But  the  situation  did  not  change  for 
the  better.  The  Southern  President,  though 
with  better  justification,  because  of  military 
experience,  than  the  Northern,  like  him  con 
stantly  meddled  with  the  plans  of  his  generals. 
This  led  to  regrettable  consequences,  of  which 
Davis  cannot  be  held  guiltless.  He  was,  how 
ever,  constantly  harassed  and  hampered  by  the 
unjustified  bickerings  of  disgruntled  subordi 
nates. 

The  North,  though  it  was  in  possession  of 
every  necessary  resource,  was  entirely  unpre 
pared  for  war.  It  is  true,  several  States,  notably 
Ohio,  New  York,  and  Massachusetts,  had  reor 
ganized  their  militia  shortly  before  the  war,  and 
that  the  famous  war  governor  of  the  last-named 
Commonwealth  had  been  sent  as  an  agent  to  Eu 
rope  to  buy  munitions;  but,  on  the  whole,  the 
North  was  not  ready.  She  had  no  drilled  troops 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   THE   CONFLICT     215 

worth  the  mention.  That  fact  was  in  a  large 
measure  the  cause  of  the  reverse  at  Manassas. 
The  volunteers  who  had  come  forward  on  the 
first  call  were  officered  by  men  elected  by  their 
neighbors  for  any  sort  of  prominence  except  ex 
perience  and  aptitude  in  military  affairs.  The 
Three-Months  War  was  beneficial  to  the  North 
in  that  it  increased  the  standard  of  the  efficiency 
of  her  volunteer  regiments. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  government 
owned  but  one  establishment  for  manufacturing 
arms,  that  of  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  which 
had  a  capacity  of  only  ten  thousand  guns  annu 
ally.  Everybody  set  earnestly  to  work;  sub 
scriptions  from  States  as  well  as  from  citizens 
poured  in;  men  and  women  vied  with  those  of 
the  South  in  inspiring  general  enthusiasm ;  and 
the  largest  iron-mills  were  transformed  into  can 
non  foundries.  At  first  it  was  necessary  to  de 
pend  on  purchases  in  Europe.  There  was  no 
reservoir  of  military  equipment  of  any  sort.  The 
destruction  of  the  Gosport  Navy- Yard  had  well- 
nigh  demolished  what  remained  of  a  fleet  already 
scattered  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe.  But 
the  North  possessed  a  great  population  of  me 
chanics.  Her  people  had  already  manifested  a 
mechanical  genius  unequalled  among  the  na 
tions.  Every  requisite  for  manufacture  was 
abundantly  produced  within  her  own  borders. 
The  sources  of  wealth  were  unlimited.  Above 
all,  the  great  wheat  fields  assured  abundant  sus- 
tentation  for  however  large  an  army  the  exi- 


216  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

gencies  of  the  war  might  demand.  Though  the 
personnel  of  available  officers  had  been  greatly 
depreciated  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  men  whose 
loyalty  to  their  States  carried  them  over  to  the 
Confederacy,  yet  there  were  left  able  and  ex 
perienced  men  and,  as  events  proved,  an  abun 
dance  of  the  most  promising  material. 

After  his  defeat,  General  McDowell  resigned 
his  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  but 
did  not  thereby  lose  the  respect  of  his  country 
men;  nor  did  he,  in  his  after  career,  give  occa 
sion  for  its  withdrawal.  But  the  event  forced 
upon  the  Northern  government  the  need  of  thor 
oughly  reorganizing  the  army.  Political  gen 
erals — except  those  like  Banks  and  Butler — were 
now  thrust  into  the  background  to  make  room 
for  experienced  soldiers  such  as  Grant,  Sherman, 
Meade,  Hooper,  Slocum,  and  Thomas.  There 
was  daily  drilling,  the  medical  department  was 
put  on  a  good  footing,  the  engineer  corps  was  re 
inforced  by  trained  civil  engineers,  and  a  large 
number  of  woodsmen  were  secured.  The  vener 
able  commanding  general,  Scott,  was  retired; 
his  high  post  was  given  to  McClellan.  This 
officer,  though  his  subsequent  operations  and  his 
character  gave  occasion  for  serious  animadver 
sions,  certainly  rendered  an  immense  service  to 
the  North  by  the  magnificent  military  organiza 
tion  which  he  created  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war.  General  Meade's  verdict  that  Grant  could 
not  have  accomplished  what  he  did  had  not  Mc 
Clellan  given  him  the  army  which  he  did  may 


GENERAL    ULYSSES    S.   GRANT 
From  a  photograph  by  Brady 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   THE   CONFLICT     217 

be  accepted  so  far  as  the  nucleus  of  the  forces 
which  compelled  Appomatox  is  concerned. 
Rosecrans,  Anderson,  W.  T.  Sherman,  Buell, 
Halleck,  and  Fremont  also  assisted  in  the  organi 
zation  and  discipline  of  the  six  hundred  thousand 
volunteers  who  were  assembled  during  the  sum 
mer  and  autumn  of  1861. 

When  the  war — to  the  South  one  of  defence, 
to  the  North  a  struggle  to  preserve  the  Union — 
had  fairly  begun,  the  limits  of  the  Confederacy 
were  definitely  outlined.  Prompt  action  had  pre 
vented  the  secession  of  Maryland  and  Missouri. 
At  Paducah  Grant,  by  his  promptness  in  prevent 
ing  the  Confederates  from  gaining  a  foothold  in 
that  important  point  at  the  mouth  of  Tennessee 
River,  "  neutralized  the  Confederate  seizure  of 
Columbus,"  and  prevented  Kentucky  from  going 
into  the  Confederacy.  The  western  portion  of 
Virginia  belonged  no  longer  to  the  Old  Do 
minion;  but  the  following  States  had  either 
adopted  ordinances  of  secession  and  formed  the 
Confederate  States  of  America,  or  had  been  an 
nexed  thereto,  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  the 
opponents  of  separate  State  action :  South  Caro 
lina,  Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Texas,  North  Carolina,  Virginia,  Tennessee, 
Arkansas,  and  Georgia,  together  with  the  Indian 
Territory  and  Arizona.  Briefly,  the  frontier  of 
this  incipient  government  extended  along  the 
Potomac  westward  through  the  boundary  line  be 
tween  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  to  the  Mississippi 
River  and,  crossing  it,  through  the  centre  of 


218  THE   TRUE    CIVIL    WAR 

Missouri  to  Kansas,  thence  southward  to  the 
Mexican  Gulf.  Through  a  large  part  of  this  ex 
tensive  region  flowed  the  Mississippi  and  other 
important  streams ;  it  contained  numerous  spurs 
of  the  great  Appalachian  range,  and  several  thou 
sand  miles  of  sea-coast  from  the  North  Atlantic 
to  the  far-off  ports  of  southern  Texas,  and  from 
beyond  its  borders  the  Confederacy  received  aid 
and  comfort  and  promises  that  seemed  to  presage 
increase  in  territory  and  strength. 

Judged  from  the  utterances  of  her  public  men, 
California  was  either  in  sympathy  with  the  South 
or  in  favor  of  erecting  a  republic  on  the  Pacific; 
the  border  States,  especially  the  slave-holding 
States  of  Maryland,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri,  de 
sired  a  central  Confederacy  and  leaned  strongly 
to  the  South;  while  the  North  was  honey 
combed  with  organizations  in  communication 
with  Southern  leaders  and  ready  to  supply  them 
with  all  the  information  they  could  obtain.  Be 
cause  of  this  hidden  though  active  treachery  to 
the  policy  of  his  administration  Lincoln  did  not 
call  an  extra  session  of  Congress  as  soon  as  he 
was  inaugurated. 

The  South  decided  on  a  policy  of  defence,  and 
in  doing  so  was  influenced  in  no  small  measure 
by  the  topography  of  the  country  as  well  as  by 
its  vast  area.  Moreover,  by  keeping  her  slaves 
at  work  there  was  a  possibility  that  she  might 
provide  for  the  sustenance  of  her  armies. 

To  the  North,  when  affairs  at  last  emerged 
from  the  nebulous  condition  of  the  first  few 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   THE   CONFLICT     219 

months,  it  became  plain  that  aggression  must 
be  the  policy  of  an  effective  plan  of  military  oper 
ations.  The  first  step  to  be  taken  was  to  open 
up  the  Mississippi  and  render  the  blockade  of 
Southern  ports  effectual.  With  a  reorganized 
navy  this  was  accomplished.  Gunboats  were  sent 
to  the  Southern  coasts.  The  second  step  was  to 
penetrate  the  long  frontier;  this,  also,  was  done, 
east  and  west.  The  third  and  last,  the  heart 
of  the  Confederacy  was  to  be  broken  by  a  blow 
at  the  Middle  South,  a  plan  subsequently  ma 
tured  by  Sherman  in  his  "March  to  the  Sea." 
From  the  beginning,  therefore,  the  theatre  of  the 
war  was  to  be  the  States  of  Virginia  and  Ten 
nessee,  States  where,  at  the  same  time,  a  strong 
loyal  element  was  to  give  rise  to  a  fierce  inter 
necine  conflict,  a  desultory,  cowardly  guerilla 
warfare  that  forms  one  of  the  darkest  chapters 
in  the  history  of  that  larger  and  nobler  struggle 
which  was  now  absorbing  the  attention,  energies, 
and  aspirations  of  two  great  peoples. 

What  had  the  South  with  which  to  meet  the 
vast  resources  that  the  North  was  able  to  com 
mand?  A  comparatively  small  population  de 
pending  on  the  North  and  Europe  for  commodi 
ties  of  subsistence;  an  evanescent  wealth  which 
could  be  replenished  only  by  access  to  foreign 
markets;  abundant  courage;  and  a  unanimous 
and  an  enthusiastic  faith  in  its  cause.  The  South 
had  not  expected  war.  The  people  had  hoped 
for  either  a  peaceable  secession  or  a  compromise 
enforced  by  the  mere  threat  of  disunion.  There 


220  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

was  not  even  the  nucleus  of  a  military  organiza 
tion;  that,  like  the  government,  had  to  be  cre 
ated.  There  were  no  arms  or  any  other  equip 
ment  for  warfare.  There  were  no  establishments 
for  their  manufacture.  Within  the  bounds  of  the 
Confederate  States  there  was  but  one  small 
powder-mill;  nor  was  there  any  supply  of  nitre 
or  sulphur.  In  the  whole  land  there  was  not  a 
single  machine  for  the  manufacture  of  percussion 
caps.  For  these  necessaries  the  South  was  at 
first  wholly  dependent  upon  the  North  and  upon 
Europe.  From  the  former  but  a  small  supply 
was  procured.  But  owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
Confederate  agent  reached  the  European  market 
in  advance  of  the  agent  of  the  United  States  gov 
ernment,  large  contracts  for  the  supply  of  arms 
and  ammunition  were  placed.  Immediately  after 
his  inauguration  President  Davis  sent  Captain 
Semmes  to  the  North  for  the  purpose  of  pro 
curing  what  supplies  he  could.  The  letter  of  in 
struction  from  Mr.  Davis  is  interesting  as  indi 
cating  for  what  small  mercies  the  Confederate 
government  was  at  first  thankful. 

"  MONTGOMERY,  ALABAMA,  February  21,  1861. 

"DEAR  SIR, — As  agent  of  the  Confederate  States,  you  are 
authorized  to  proceed,  as  hereinafter  set  forth,  to  make 
purchases  and  contracts  for  machinery  and  munitions,  or 
for  the  manufacture  of  arms  and  munitions  of  war. 

"  Of  the  proprietor  of  the  Powder  Company,  in 

,  you  will  probably  be  able  to  obtain  cannon  and 

musket  powder — the  former  to  be  of  the  coarsest  grain; 
and  also  to  engage  with  him  for  the  establishment  of  a 
powder-mill  at  some  point  in  the  limits  of  our  territory. 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   THE   CONFLICT     221 

"The  quantity  of  powder  to  be  supplied  immediately  will 
exceed  his  stock  on  hand,  and  the  arrangement  for  further 
supply  should,  if  possible,  be  by  manufacture  in  our  own 
territory;  if  this  is  not  practicable,  means  must  be  sought 
for  further  shipments,  from  any  and  all  sources  which  are 
reliable. 

"  At  the  arsenal  at  Washington  you  will  find  an  artisan 

named  ,  who  has  brought  the  cap-making  machine  to 

its  present  state  of  efficiency,  and  who  might  furnish  a  cap- 
machine  and  accompany  it  to  direct  its  operations.  If  not 
in  this,  I  hope  you  may  in  some  other  way  be  able  to  obtain 
a  cap-machine  with  little  delay,  and  have  it  sent  to  the 
Mount  Vernon  Arsenal,  Albany. 

"  We  shall  require  a  manufactory  for  friction-primers, 
and  you  will,  if  possible,  induce  some  capable  person  to 
establish  one  in  our  country.  The  demand  of  the  Confed 
erate  States  will  be  the  inducement  in  this  as  in  the  case 
of  the  powder-mill  proposed. 

"A  short  time  since,  the  most  improved  machinery  for 
the  manufacture  of  rifles,  intended  for  the  Harper's  Ferry 
Armory,  was,  it  was  said,  for  sale  by  the  manufacturer. 
If  it  be  so  at  this  time,  you  will  procure  it  for  this  govern 
ment,  and  use  the  needful  precaution  in  relation  to  its 

transportation.  Mr.  ,  of  the  Harper's  Ferry 

Armory,  can  give  you  all  the  information  in  that  connec 
tion  which  you  may  require.  Mr.  Ball,  the  master  armorer 
at  Harper's  Ferry,  is  willing  to  accept  service  under  our 
government,  and  could  probably  bring  with  him  skilled 
workmen.  If  we  get  the  machinery,  this  will  be  important. 

"  Machinery  for  grooving  muskets  and  heavy  guns  is,  I 
hope,  to  be  purchased  ready  made.  If  not,  you  will  con 
tract  for  its  manufacture  and  delivery.  You  will  endeavor 
to  obtain  the  most  improved  shot  for  rifled  cannon,  and 
persons  skilled  in  the  preparation  of  that  and  other  fixed 
ammunition.  Captain  G.  W.  Smith  and  Captain  Lovell,  late 
of  the  United  States  army,  and  now  of  New  York  City,  may 
aid  you  in  your  task;  and  you  will  please  say  to  them 
that  we  will  be  happy  to  have  their  services  in  our  army. 

"  You  will  make  such  inquiries  as  your  varied  knowledge 
will  suggest  in  relation  to  the  supply  of  guns  of  different 
calibers,  especially  the  largest.  I  suggest  the  advantage,  if 


222  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

to  be  obtained,  of  having  a  few  of  the  fifteen-inch  guns, 
like  the  one  cast  at  Pittsburg. 

"I  have  not  sought  to  prescribe  so  as  to  limit  your  in 
quiries,  either  as  to  objects  or  place,  but  only  to  suggest 
for  your  reflection  and  consideration  the  points  which  have 
chanced  to  come  under  my  observation.  You  will  use  your 
discretion  in  visiting  places  where  information  of  persons 
or  things  is  to  be  obtained  for  the  furtherance  of  the  object 
in  view.  Any  contracts  will  be  sent  to  the  Hon.  L.  P. 
Walker,  Secretary  of  War,  for  his  approval ;  and  the  con 
tractor  need  not  fear  that  delay  will  be  encountered  in  the 
action  of  this  government. 

"  Very  respectfully  yours,  etc., 

"JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 


The  charge  laid  against  John  B.  Floyd,  who 
was  Secretary  of  War  under  Buchanan,  of  having 
taken  advantage  of  the  opportunity  afforded  by 
his  office  to  supply  the  South  with  arms,  might 
lead  one  to  infer  that  the  South  was  well  supplied 
with  weapons,  but  the  charge  was  in  itself  false, 
and  the  assertion  that  the  South  was  without 
modern  or  sufficient  weapons  for  even  the  pre 
liminary  campaigns  of  the  war  between  the  sec 
tions  cannot  be  disproved. 

The  statement  was,  however,  generally  be 
lieved  during  the  war.  Even  a  Southern  his 
torian  like  Pollard  said  that  Floyd  "  had  by  a 
single  order  effected  the  transfer  of  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  thousand  improved  muskets  and  rifles 
from  the  Springfield  Armory  and  Watertown 
Arsenal  to  different  arsenals  at  the  South.  Add 
ing  to  these  the  number  of  arms  distributed  by 
the  Federal  government  to  the  States  in  pre 
ceding  years  of  our  history,  and  those  purchased 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   THE   CONFLICT     223 

by  the  States  and  citizens,  it  was  safely  estimated 
that  the  South  entered  upon  the  war  with  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  small-arms  of  the 
most  approved  pattern  and  the  best  in  the 
world."  This  is  the  only  instance  we  know  of  in 
which  a  Southern  historian  unduly  magnifies  the 
advantage  of  his  side.  The  report  made  Febru 
ary  18,  1861,  by  the  House  Committee  on  Mili 
tary  Affairs,  of  which  Stanton  was  the  chairman, 
indicates  the  true  nature  of  those  "  improved 
muskets."  One  hundred  and  five  thousand  of 
them  were  condemned  fire-arms  which  were 
offered  for  sale  to  the  States  at  two  dollars  each. 
Ordnance  officers  had  reported  that  the  govern 
ment  would  do  well  to  get  rid  of  them  at  any 
price.  They  were  purchased  by  one  Belknap, 
whose  plan  was  to  sell  the  muskets  in  Europe. 
But  few  of  them  found  their  way  to  the  South, 
and  they  were  sent  there  during  the  spring  of 
1860  for  storage.  At  this  time  Floyd  was  not  a 
secessionist.  The  insinuation  is  that  the  alleged 
action  by  Floyd  was  part  of  a  conspiracy  to  se 
cede  existing  among  the  Southern  leaders,  a  the 
ory  which  has  no  warrant  in  established  facts. 
The  charge  that  Floyd  tried  to  arm  the  unfin 
ished  Southern  forts  with  heavy  ordnance  should 
be  laid  at  the  door  of  the  lobbyists  of  the  Pitts- 
burg  iron-founders.  The  motive  which  brought 
about  the  manufacture  of  this  ordnance  is  found 
not  in  a  conspiracy  to  arm  the  South,  but  in  the 
enterprise  of  the  iron-founders  of  the  North. 
That  they  were  prepared  for  delivery  before  the 


224  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

forts  at  Ship  Island  and  Galveston  were  finished 
was  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  manufacturers 
were  to  receive  their  pay  for  the  ordnance  only 
when  it  reached  its  destination;  therefore,  quick 
delivery  was  to  their  interest.  The  guns,  how 
ever,  were  never  shipped,  the  order  for  their  de 
livery  being  rescinded  by  Acting  Secretary  Holt. 
So  far  were  the  Southern  States  from  making 
preparation  for  armed  rebellion  that  in  1860  they 
did  not  even  make  requisition  for,  nor  did  they 
receive,  their  full  quota  of  new  arms. 

Truly,  the  South  before  going  to  war  did  not 
"  sit  down  first  and  count  the  cost."  She  sprang 
incontinently  into  the  conflict,  and  then  prepared 
for  its  continuance.  All  the  vessels  of  the  navy, 
with  one  or  two  insignificant  exceptions,  re 
mained  with  the  United  States.  Commanders 
who  were  Southern  in  birth  and  sympathy,  and 
who  determined  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  Con 
federacy,  first  took  their  ships  into  Northern 
ports.  President  Davis,  though  honoring  the 
sentiment,  remembered  with  regret  "  how  much 
was  lost  by  their  view  of  what  their  honor  and 
duty  demanded."  It  is  a  signal  proof  of  their 
devotion  to  the  cause  that  they  offered  them 
selves  for  any  position  in  its  service,  leaving,  with 
empty  hands,  posts  which  had  become  endeared 
by  association  and  in  which  future  recognition 
was  assured. 

Whatever  may  be  our  opinion  as  to  the  judg 
ment  of  these  men,  it  is  impossible  to  doubt 
their  sincerity.  We  may  unquestionably  take  it 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   THE   CONFLICT     225 

for  granted  that  the  men  who  followed  the  for 
tunes  of  the  South  were  actuated  by  principle. 
A  man  does  not  change  his  allegiance,  when  to 
do  so  provides  no  prospects  of  gain  and  does 
open  a  possibility  of  loss,  for  other  than  what  he 
deems  to  be  honorable  motives.  The  withdrawal 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty-one  secessionist  offi 
cers  for  a  short  time  seriously  crippled  the  Union 
navy.  It  is  true  that  three  hundred  and  fifty 
Southern  men  remained  in  the  navy  and  did 
effective  service.  Of  this  number  were  Farragut 
and  Jenkins.  Of  the  naval  officer  who  threw  in 
his  lot  with  that  of  the  Confederacy,  Admiral 
Semmes  truly  said : 

"  His  profession  was  his  only  fortune ;  he  depended  upon 
it  for  the  means  of  subsisting  himself  and  family.  If  he 
remained  where  he  was,  a  competency  for  life,  and  promo 
tions,  and  honors,  probably  awaited  him ;  if  he  went  with 
the  South,  a  dark,  uncertain  future  was  before  him ;  he 
could  not  possibly  better  his  condition,  and,  if  the  South 
failed,  he  would  have  thrown  away  the  labor  of  a  lifetime. 
The  struggle  was  hard  in  other  respects." 

It  is  alleged  that  Union  vessels  were  incapaci 
tated  for  service  in  the  cause  of  the  North  by 
the  fact  that  Isaac  Toucey,  of  Connecticut,  who 
was  Secretary  of  the  Navy  under  Buchanan,  had 
designedly  placed  them  in  far-off  seas.  But  that 
this  was  of  malice  aforethought,  done  in  the  in 
terest  of  secession,  there  is  no  positive  evidence. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  true  that  the  navy  was 
not  so  ordered  as  to  protect  the  interests  of  the 
North.  Some  of  the  vessels  were  on  the  coast 


226  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

of  Africa,  and  did  not  reach  home  until  Septem 
ber,  1861.  In  fact,  the  United  States  navy  was 
scattered  over  the  seas  in  accordance  with  nor 
mal  custom  in  a  time  of  peace,  and  the  only  safe 
conclusion  is  that,  even  when  secession  was 
threatened,  war  had  not  been  expected. 

The  naval  resources  and  manufacturing  facili 
ties  of  the  United  States  at  the  outbreaking  of 
the  Civil  War  were  far  from  being  adequate  to 
the  demands  made  upon  them.  In  point  of  fact, 
the  government  "  had  not  one  establishment 
where  a  shaft  could  be  made  for  steamers  or 
a  plate  for  ironclads."  There  were  about  six 
thousand  seamen  afloat  in  the  United  States  ser 
vice.  The  vessels  were  greatly  inferior  to  those 
of  European  navies.  Probably  nine-tenths  of 
them  would  have  been  quite  useless  in  meeting 
battle-ships  of  the  same  class  and  tonnage  be 
longing  to  almost  any  other  nation.  Of  the 
ninety  vessels  belonging  to  the  United  States  in 
1861,  no  more  than  forty-two  were  in  commis 
sion;  there  were  twenty-seven  others  available; 
the  rest  were  unserviceable.  Counting  those 
which  were  immediately  put  into  commission, 
the  United  States  could  muster  a  fleet  of  sixty- 
nine  vessels  mounting  one  thousand  seven  hun 
dred  and  eighty-three  guns.  The  close  of  the 
struggle  found  the  United  States,  to  the  alarm 
of  Europe,  in  possession  of  five  hundred  and 
eighty-eight  war-ships,  including  steamers  for 
coast  service  and  inland  purposes,  side-wheelers, 
screw-  and  sailing-ships.  Yet  in  spite  of  what 


LONGITUDE  WEST 


FROM  GREENWICH  8 


REFERENCE  MAP 

V  FOR    THE 


CIVIL  WAR,  1861-65 


Early  Seceding  States;  thus...... TEXAS 

Later  Seceding  States;  thus -VIRGINIA 

Blockading   Vessels,  thus  - -     .-^S£  


PREPARATIONS   FOR   THE   CONFLICT     227 

was  actually  achieved  in  the  way  of  construct 
ing  a  navy,  Secretary  Welles  wrote,  as  late  as 
1864:  "  Our  country,  whose  strength  and  power 
must  cause  her  to  be  identified  with  and  main 
tained  by  her  navy,  and  which  possesses  in  such 
abundance  the  means  of  creating  and  sustaining 
one,  has  not,  in  all  the  navy-yards  combined,  the 
appliances  possessed  by  single  establishments  in 
England  and  France." 

It  is  difficult,  without  serious  consideration,  to 
grasp  the  extent  of  the  sea-coast  which  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  undertook  to  effec 
tively  blockade.  Stretching  from  Alexandria, 
Virginia,  down  rivers,  bays,  the  ocean,  and  the 
Gulf  to  the  Rio  Grande,  in  Texas,  it  represented 
more  than  three  thousand  five  hundred  miles 
and  almost  two  hundred  river  and  harbor  open 
ings. 

The  government  required,  in  addition  to  fleets 
necessary  to  enforce  the  blockade,  ships  to 
pursue  blockade-runners  and  privateers.  This 
demand  created  unexampled  activity  and  demon 
strated  the  futility  of  relying  on  private  ship 
building.  Measures  were  therefore  immediately 
taken  by  the  government  at  Washington  to  pur 
chase  everything  afloat  that  could  be  bought. 
Immediately  there  began  the  construction  of 
war-vessels  which  were  equipped  for  the  service 
required  of  them  with  all  the  latest  devices. 
Among  these  was  that  "  immense  river  fleet, 
composed  of  river  steamboat  rams,  ironclads,  tin- 
clads,  and  mortar  boats,"  which  did  such  efficient 


228  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

service  at  Donelson,  Vicksburg,  New  Orleans, 
and  Richmond. 

Just  what  the  result  would  have  been  had  Cali 
fornia  followed  the  lead  of  her  Congressmen  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war  and  joined  the  South, 
it  is  hard  to  say.  That  the  position  of  the  South 
would  have  been  greatly  strengthened  by  her 
accession  cannot  be  doubted,  for  the  task  of  the 
United  States  navy,  as  well  as  its  army,  would 
have  been  tremendously  increased.  Along  the 
great  lakes  there  was  little  serious  trouble.  It  is 
true  the  representatives  of  the  South  in  Canada, 
emulating  the  example  of  John  Brown  and  of  the 
engineers  of  the  "  underground  railroads"  of 
earlier  days,  made  expeditions  across  the  borders, 
which  at  St.  Albans,  Vermont,  proved  serious; 
but  these  operations,  on  the  whole,  were  by  land 
and  not  by  water.  But  of  course  it  was  neces 
sary  to  protect  the  lakes,  and  towns  like  Buf 
falo,  at  one  time  seemingly  threatened,  felt  safer 
by  reason  of  the  presence  of  gunboats  on  the 
lakes. 

Over  against  the  naval  equipment  of  the 
Union,  what  had  the  Confederacy  ?  The  question 
has  been  answered  thus : 

"The  Confederate  States  had  at  their  disposal  a  small 
number  of  trained  officers;  some  of  these,  like  Buchanan, 
Semmes,  Brown,  Maffitt,  and  Brooks,  were  men  of  extraor 
dinary  professional  qualities ;  but  except  its  officers,  the 
Confederate  government  had  nothing  in  the  shape  of  a 
navy.  It  had  not  a  single  ship-of-war.  It  had  no  abun 
dant  fleet  of  merchant-vessels  in  its  ports  from  which  to 
draw  reserver,.  It  had  no  seamen,  for  its  people  were  not 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   THE   CONFLICT     229 

given  to  seafaring  pursuits.  Its  only  ship-yards  were  Nor 
folk  and  Pensacola.  Norfolk,  with  its  immense  supplies  of 
ordnance  and  equipment  was  indeed  valuable;  but  though 
the  three  hundred  Dahlgren  guns  captured  in  the  yard  were 
a  permanent  acquisition,  the  yard  itself  was  lost  when  the 
war  was  one-fourth  over.  The  South  was  without  any 
large  force  of  skilled  mechanics,  and  such  as  it  had  were 
early  summoned  to  the  army.  .  .  .  Worst  of  all,  there  was 
no  raw  material,  except  the  timber  that  was  standing  in  the 
forests.  Under  these  circumstances,  no  general  plan  of 
naval  policy  on  a  large  scale  could  be  carried  out,  and  the 
conflict  on  the  Southern  side  became  a  species  of  partisan, 
desultory  warfare." 

Nevertheless,  the  Confederate  States  went 
bravely  to  work  to  supply  its  needs.  Secret  acts 
of  its  Congress  were  passed  on  May  n,  1861, 
following  which  agents  went  to  England,  to  the 
North,  and  to  Canada,  with  authority  to  pur 
chase  vessels  for  the  South.  Only  in  the  first- 
named  country,  however,  were  they  successful. 
Steps  were  then  taken  by  the  Confederate  States 
to  construct  ironclads,  the  first  result  of  which 
was  the  raising  and  plating  of  the  renowned 
"  Merrimac"  ("Virginia"),  which  caused  such 
consternation  to  the  North. 

When  the  United  States  began  building  gun 
boats,  skilled  mechanics  were  sent  from  the 
South  with  instructions  to  obtain  work  on  the 
boats  which  were  under  construction  in  St. 
Louis.  The  result  was  that  the  Confederate 
authorities  very  early  obtained  accurate  infor 
mation  as  to  the  number,  strength,  and  probable 
destination  of  the  gunboats,  and  immediately 
directed  the  preparation  of  such  defences  of  the 


2  3o  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

Mississippi  as  might  cope  with  the  fleet  from  the 
northward. 

By  August  27,  1862,  in  relation  to  the  criti 
cisms  which  followed  the  fall  of  New  Orleans 
and  the  destruction  of  the  "  Merrimac"  in  Hamp 
ton  Roads  by  her  own  crew,  Secretary  Mallory 
could  report  that  his  department  had  established 
eighteen  yards  for  building  war-vessels,  had  built 
twelve  war-ships,  had  purchased  or  otherwise 
acquired  and  converted  to  war-vessels  forty- 
four,  and  had  then  under  construction  thirty- 
two. 

As  the  Southern  States  one  after  another  se 
ceded,  their  first  care  was  to  take  possession  of 
the  government  property  situated  within  their 
territory.  From  the  stand-point  of  their  belief 
in  the  right  to  withdraw  from  the  Union,  this 
action  was  perfectly  justifiable.  The  sites  on 
which  these  properties  were  situated  had  been 
ceded  to  the  central  government  with  the  under 
standing  that  they  should  revert  to  the  respec 
tive  States  when  no  longer  used  for  their  pro 
tection  or  benefit.  The  properties  themselves 
had  been  created  by  means  of  a  revenue  derived 
from  every  part  of  the  Union.  Consequently, 
the  South,  in  dissolving  partnership  with  the 
Northern  States,  desired  to  adjust  matters  ami 
cably  with  reference  to  these  public  possessions. 
That  there  could  be  no  question  in  the  minds  of 
either  or  both  the  parties  (granting  the  right  to 
secede)  as  to  the  ownership  of  the  sites  is  shown 
by  many  public  documents  relative  to  the  cession 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   THE   CONFLICT     231 

of  such  lands.  As  an  example,  we  will  quote  an 
Act  of  the  State  of  Virginia  in  reference  to  Old 
Point  Comfort  and  the  Rip  Raps : 

"  WHEREAS,  it  is  shown  to  the  present  General  Assembly 
that  the  government  of  the  United  States  is  solicitous  that 
certain  lands  at  Old  Point  Comfort,  and  at  the  shoals 
called  the  Rip  Raps,  should  be,  with  the  right  of  property 
and  entire  jurisdiction  thereon,  vested  in  the  said  United 
States  for  the  purpose  of  fortification  and  other  objects  of 
national  defence : 

"  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly,  that  it  shall  be 
lawful  and  proper  for  the  governor  of  this  Commonwealth, 
by  conveyance  or  deeds  in  writing  under  his  hand  and  seal 
of  the  State,  to  transfer,  assign,  and  make  over  unto  the 
said  United  States  the  right  of  property  and  title,  as  well 
as  all  the  jurisdiction  which  this  Commonwealth  possesses 
over  the  lands  and  shoal  at  Old  Point  Comfort  and  the  Rip 
Raps : 

"And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  should  the  said  United 
States  at  any  time  abandon  the  said  lands  and  shoal,  or 
appropriate  them  to  any  other  purposes  than  those  indi 
cated  in  the  preamble  to  this  act,  that  then  and  in  that  case, 
the  same  shall  revert  to  and  revest  in  this  Commonwealth." 

The  Southern  States,  on  seceding,  wished  and 
sought,  as  we  saw  in  the  case  of  South  Carolina, 
to  treat  with  the  Federal  government  in  regard 
to  the  equitable  adjustment  of  the  value  of  the 
public  properties  situated  upon  lands  thus  (as 
they  held)  reverting  to  them.  And  there  is  no 
reason  for  thinking  that  this  was  not  done  in 
good  faith  and,  at  first,  in  the  belief  that  such  an 
adjustment  might  be  made.  But  the  position 
taken  by  the  Republican  party  of  the  North  pro 
hibited  it. 

Thereupon  the  Confederacy  seized  and  appro- 


23 2  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

priated  to  its  own  use  and  defence  all  national 
properties  situated  within  the  bounds  of  the  se 
ceding  States.  This  included  the  revenue  cutter 
"  William  Aiken,"  a  boat  of  ninety  tons  and 
armed  with  one  forty-two  pounder  pivot  gun; 
the  revenue  cutter  "  Lewis  Cass;"  the  steamer 
"  Ida ;"  the  "  McClellan,"  carrying  five  guns ; 
and  a  few  other  small  and  unimportant  vessels. 
The  "  Fulton,"  a  war  steamer  carrying  three 
guns,  had  been  wrecked  off  Pensacola,  and  was 
rebuilt  by  the  Southern  government.  Alto 
gether,  the  ten  vessels  seized  by  the  Confed 
eracy,  and  forming  the  nucleus  of  its  navy,  which 
soon  became  so  formidable,  contained  an  arma 
ment  of  not  more  than  fifteen  guns. 

The  Confederate  States  obtained  by  seizure 
the  munitions  of  war  found  in  Charleston  Harbor 
and  in  the  other  ports  and  forts  on  the  Southern 
coast.  These  in  themselves  were  by  no  means 
inconsiderable.  But,  considering  the  magnitude 
of  the  enterprise  upon  which  the  South  had  en 
tered,  the  vastly  superior  preparations  of  the 
North,  and  her  stupendous  resources,  the  nucleus 
of  warlike  equipment  in  the  hands  of  the  Con 
federacy  in  the  fall  of  1861  was  most  pitiably 
small. 

Moreover,  the  industrial  organization  of  the 
South  was  in  every  way  unfavorable  to  the  prose 
cution  of  her  cause.  Her  staple  products  were 
cotton  and  tobacco.  The  former,  a  source  of  im 
mense  wealth  though  it  was,  was  rendered  use 
less  by  the  effective  blockade  established  by  the 


PREPARATIONS    FOR   THE   CONFLICT     233 

North.  The  whole  system  of  agriculture  had  to 
be  changed  in  order  that  the  land  might  support 
her  army  and  population.  This  was  but  slowly 
accomplished,  because  of  the  fact  that  the  people 
held  to  the  conviction  that  the  war  would  be  of 
short  duration.  Consequently  the  South  was 
soon  in  possession  of  vast  stores  of  her  staple 
product,  which  could  not  be  turned  into  money, 
and  at  the  same  time  she  was  suffering  for  lack 
of  the  necessaries  of  subsistence.  This  condition 
was  largely  influential  in  the  final  result. 

Then,  too,  the  facilities  for  transportation 
were  very  meagre  in  the  South.  The  rail 
roads  were  few  in  number  and  were  in  the 
habit  of  depending  on  Northern  foundries  and 
machine-shops  for  their  rails  and  rolling  stock. 
At  the  opening  of  hostilities  this  supply  was, 
of  course,  immediately  cut  off.  The  skilled  em 
ployees  of  the  railroads  were  nearly  all  Northern 
men,  and  the  greater  part  of  them  left  their 
situations  at  the  commencement  of  the  war. 

Never  was  a  country  so  totally  unprepared  to 
fight  its  battles.  And  the  rapidity  with  which 
the  South  created  out  of  nothing  so  efficient  a 
military  organization  as  she  did  is  perhaps  the 
most  striking  feature  of  the  great  struggle.  It 
evidenced  a  courage,  a  determination,  and  an 
absolute  devotion  to  their  cause  on  the  part  of 
the  people  nothing  less  than  marvellous. 

The  Southern  Congress,  in  retaliatory  re 
sponse  to  the  Act  of  the  North  by  which  the 
property  and  estates  of  all  those  aiding  in 


234  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

the  "  insurrection"  were  confiscated,  passed  a 
measure  of  sequestration.  This  included  the 
estates  and  property  of  all  alien  enemies.  It 
applied,  also,  to  the  debts  which  had  been  in 
curred  by  Southern  people  to  Northern  mer 
chants.  The  extent  to  which  the  South  profited 
by  this  Act  may  be  seen  from  the  following, 
which  is  copied  from  the  Richmond  Despatch  of 
September  24: 

"  We  have  seen  it  estimated  that  under  the  operation  of 
the  Sequestration  Act  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  from 
fifteen  to  thirty  millions  of  dollars  will  pass  into  the  cus 
tody  of  the  Confederate  receivers  in  Virginia.  The  esti 
mate  strikes  us  as  moderate.  It  is  well  known  that  nearly 
all  the  merchants  of  our  cities,  towns,  and  villages  were  in 
the  habit  of  purchasing  their  stock  in  the  North.  Even 
though  a  small  portion  of  the  merchants  of  the  interior  laid 
in  their  goods  in  Richmond,  still,  inasmuch  as  the  Rich 
mond  merchants  bought  the  largest  portion  of  their  goods 
from  New  York,  the  result  was  the  same  as  if  the  country 
merchants  had  all  gone  directly  to  the  city.  The  war  came 
on  in  April,  just  after  the  season  when  the  merchants  had 
laid  in  their  spring  supplies  of  goods  from  the  North.  Very 
few  of  these  goods  were  purchased  for  cash.  The  custom 
of  trade  was  to  buy  on  credit,  and  nearly  all  these  goods 
were  bought  on  the  usual  terms  of  six  months'  time.  Thus 
the  war  opened  on  an  indebtedness  from  Virginia  (and 
doubtless  the  case  was  the  same  with  all  the  Southern 
States)  to  the  North  equal  to  the  total  of  the  spring  pur 
chases  of  her  merchants.  This  indebtedness  was  augmented 
by  the  whole  amount  of  old  debts  of  prior  standing,  which 
had  resulted  from  a  course  of  business  that  had  existed  for 
a  long  train  of  years.  From  these  considerations  we  are 
inclined  to  put  the  indebtedness  from  Virginia  to  the  North 
on  mercantile  account  at  a  very  high  figure.  We  do  not 
think  it  can  be  less  than  twenty  millions.  For  that  portion 
of  the  State  not  overrun  by  the  enemy  we  suppose  it  to 
be  at  least  fifteen  millions." 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   THE   CONFLICT     235 

The  weakness  of  the  South  was  its  lack  of 
endurance.  It  placed  in  the  field  at  the  outset  an 
army  sufficiently  large  for  the  purpose  of  resist 
ing  invasion  of  short  duration.  At  first  there 
were  plenty  of  volunteers ;  in  fact,  the  contention 
among  the  men  of  the  South  in  the  first  year  of 
the  war  was  not  as  to  who  should  go,  but  as  to 
who  should  stay  at  home.  But  the  South  ex 
hausted  herself  in  the  outset.  It  is  true  a  very 
large  proportion  of  whites  were  able  to  take  up 
arms  because  they  could  with  security  leave  the 
slaves  to  cultivate  their  fields  and  care  for  their 
homes,  but  the  very  eagerness  of  citizens  to  vol 
unteer  hastened  defeat,  for  the  supply  of  recruits 
was  far  from  being  inexhaustible.  Even  the 
North  recruited  from  itself  down  to  the  dregs; 
the  fate  of  the  South  was  determined  by  its  far 
smaller  population. 

In  regard  to  the  men  who  led  the  Confederate 
army,  they  are  thus  characterized  by  "  An  Eng 
lish  Combatant :" 

"  Who  are  our  generals,  thought  I,  walking  about,  and 
meditating;  our  men  are  as  brave  as  steel,  but  who  are  to 
lead  them?  Our  best  officers  are  from  the  old  army,  yet 
none  of  them  held  higher  rank  than  that  of  colonel.  R.  E. 
Lee  was  in  the  cavalry,  and  was  a  lieutenant-colonel ;  Jo 
seph  E.  Johnston  was  quartermaster-general,  and  ranked  as 
lieutenant-colonel;  Beauregard  has  been  major  of  engi 
neers  ;  Evans,  Longstreet,  and  others  did  not  rank  higher 
than  major  of  cavalry  or  infantry,  and  had  seen  but  little 
service,  except  on  the  frontier  among  the  Indians;  Bragg 
was  a  retired  captain  of  artillery;  T.  J.  Jackson  was  Pro 
fessor  of  Mathematics  and  of  Tactics  in  the  University  of 
Virginia;  D.  H.  Hill  was  a  lawyer;  Polk,  an  Episcopal 


236  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

bishop  in  Louisiana,  etc.  This  was  all  the  talent  we  had, 
and  much  of  it  was  only  said  to  be  '  promising.'  General  Lee 
was  at  Richmond,  acting  as  Secretary  of  War;  General 
Cooper  was  there  also  as  adjutant-general;  Bragg  and 
Polk  were  in  Tennessee  and  Johnston  in  the  Valley ; 
Beauregard  was  alone  at  Manassas,  having  Evans,  Ewell, 
Longstreet,  and  a  few  less  known  names,  as  subordinates  in 
the  approaching  struggle." 

We  may  say,  in  conclusion,  therefore,  that  if 
the  war  found  the  North  in  a  state  of  unpre- 
paredness,  it  found  the  South  in  an  even  worse 
plight.  Wholly  dependent  on  agriculture,  and 
obliged  to  look  to  the  North  and  Europe  for  all 
the  necessaries  of  life,  the  Confederacy  soon 
found  that  men  are  useless  unless  provided  with 
arms.  Accordingly,  the  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  soldiers  who,  east  and  west  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  River,  in  the  early  part  of  1861  flocked 
to  the  standard  of  the  Confederate  States,  could 
not  be  provided  with  the  simplest  means  of  self- 
defence,  not  to  mention  other  munitions  of  mod 
ern  warfare;  yet,  like  some  of  the  crusaders  of 
old,  they  appeared  to  imagine  that  all  these 
would  be  given  them  by  miracle. 

But  the  age  of  miracles  was  past,  and  no  one 
realized  the  fact  more  keenly  than  the  more 
practical  leaders  of  the  Southern  government. 
How  these  men  wrought  something  out  of  noth 
ing;  how  they  gave  to  an  infantry  accoutre 
ments,  simple  and  rude  at  times,  to  be  sure,  but 
serviceable  and  well  enough  adapted  to  their  use 
to  enable  the  Confederate  soldier  to  win  univer 
sal  admiration;  how  a  cavalry  without  arms  or 


vM  c/k™^~^)  cr-^^j  J  t>    I 

c  " 


tXVxvV      >_ 

0^     ^^  ^ 


/^  /7      V 


tX/ 

/  y 

OL- c^-»     "^TS     ci-- 


S)        £7U-0  ~^  H^C/^XU,.  /V-v-^CA_^Xl  a^V^?_^        (^)         (f-^jj  kj*^.  &t_-V 


^'  -1  •  '^' 


/  //  -         /  7 

7  ^'  c  '  — '  /^-^ 

L  /      VtLwvx^ 


L, 


P 


LETTER    FROM    JEFFERSON    DAVIS    TO    P.   C.   JOHNSON 


PREPARATIONS   FOR  THE   CONFLICT     237 

equipment  was  furnished  with  these  necessaries 
of  war ;  how  the  armies  of  a  country  with  no  fac 
tories,  laboratories,  mines,  or  foundries  secured 
artillery,  powder,  caps,  and  bullets;  how  this 
government,  whose  people  had  few  skilled  arti 
sans,  constructed  a  fleet ;  in  a  word,  how,  thrown 
on  its  own  resources,  it  was  able  to  maintain  for 
four  years  the  greatest  war  of  modern  times,  is 
one  of  the  problems  of  history.  It  was  because 
these  Southern  men  were  Americans — because, 
after  all,  they,  too,  were  "  Yankees"  to  the  core, 
inventive,  resourceful,  courageous  —  that  they 
were  able  to  do  these  things. 

It  is  well  to  remember,  also,  that  at  the  South, 
as  contrasted  with  the  North,  the  arsenals  had 
been  used  as  depots,  and  only  the  one  at  Fayette- 
ville,  North  Carolina,  had  any  machinery  at  all. 
The  work  of  preparing  war  material,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  what  was  done  at  Harper's  Ferry,  had 
been  wholly  performed  at  the  North.  "  Not  an 
arm,"  says  Jefferson  Davis,  "not  a  gun,  not  a 
gun-carriage,  and,  except  during  the  Mexican 
War,  scarcely  a  round  of  ammunition  had  been 
prepared  in  the  Confederate  States."  ("  Rise  and 
Fall  of  the  Confederate  Government,"  vol.  i.  p. 
472.)  There  were  no  skilled  workmen,  of 
course,  and  consequently  no  powder,  except  the 
coarser  sort  used  in  blasting,  was  produced  in 
the  South.  It  lacked  saltpetre,  it  lacked  lead,  it 
lacked  copper,  it  lacked  iron,  it  lacked  leather, 
it  lacked  money — it  lacked  everything.  And  yet 
in  a  short  time  all  these  were  found, — copper  for 


238  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

field  artillery ;  percussion  caps ;  saltpetre  for  the 
manufacture  of  gunpowder;  lead  for  cartridges; 
iron  for  guns  and  machinery;  leather  for  shoes, 
for  harness;  and,  in  fact,  everything  else  that 
was  required  to  carry  on  a  long  struggle  was 
forthcoming. 

Until  Fort  Sumter  was  fired  on,  powder  was 
bought  at  the  North;  but  afterwards  the  South 
had  to  depend  upon  her  own  resources  or  on  the 
precarious  methods  employed  by  blockade-run 
ners.  Battle-fields  were  gleaned  for  lead  and 
small-arms.  Soon,  however,  the  Tredegar  Iron- 
Works  were  turning  out  artillery  at  Richmond, 
and  sword-bayonets  were  being  made  at  Fayette- 
ville,  North  Carolina.  There  was,  also,  a  salt 
petre  refinery  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  which  util 
ized  the  nitre  found  there  and  in  the  caves  of 
that  State.  It  is  true  that  a  lead-mine  existed 
in  Virginia,  but  it  was  in  an  unsafe  region,  as 
were  also  the  only  blast-furnaces  south  of  Rich 
mond,  —  those  in  east  Tennessee  and  Virginia. 
The  progress  of  development,  however,  appears 
to  have  been  steady,  and  soon  there  were  two 
small  powder-mills  in  South  Carolina,  one  near 
Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  and  a  fourth  in  New 
Orleans,  where  powder  was  manufactured  until 
the  fall  of  that  city.  Then,  again,  the  government 
of  the  Confederacy  took  the  initiative  and  con 
structed  powder-mills  in  Augusta,  Georgia,  and 
elsewhere.  The  chemical  works  of  the  govern 
ment  were  located  at  Charlotte,  North  Carolina, 
and  on  the  Cape  Fear  River,  in  the  same  State, 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   THE   CONFLICT     239 

the  Confederacy  maintained  a  fishery  in  order  to 
procure  oil.  The  chief  armories  were  at  Rich 
mond  and  Fayetteville,  but  the  whole  South  was 
organized  into  districts,  each  presided  over  by  an 
ordnance  officer,  and  nitre,  old  iron,  lead,  and 
other  material  were  carefully  collected.  But  in 
spite  of  its  nitre  and  mining  bureau,  in  spite  of 
every  exertion  made  to  arm  and  equip  the  splen 
did  soldiery  it  sent  to  the  front,  the  South  suf 
fered  great  hardship — a  hardship  that  is  scarcely 
conceivable.  The  whole  country  was  a  huge  Val 
ley  Forge. 

Much  reliance  was,  of  course,  placed  on  the 
blockade-runners.  These  vessels  were  small, 
low,  compactly  built  craft,  using  fuel  that  made 
little  smoke.  On  account  of  the  dangers  of  navi 
gation,  Albemarle  Sound,  off  the  coast  of  North 
Carolina,  was  selected  as  the  base  of  their  opera 
tions,  and  Wilmington  as  their  port.  Plying  be 
tween  that  point  and  the  West  Indies,  with 
depots  at  Nassau  and  Havana,  the  blockade- 
runners  usually  carried  six  or  seven  hundred 
bales  of  cotton  and  brought  back  in  return  muni 
tions  of  war  and  other  necessaries. 

The  Confederacy  was  greatly  aided  by  the 
above  methods.  To  them  ought  to  be  added 
appropriations  made  by  Several  States  and  the 
general  government  itself;  cotton  loans,  paper 
money,  and  bonds  of  the  States  and  the  Con 
federate  States,  to  say  nothing  of  private  munifi 
cence,  for  money,  plate,  personal  property — 
everything  owned  by  private  persons — were 


24o  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

freely  given  for  what  was  considered  the  gen 
eral  good.  Whole  regiments  were  sometimes 
equipped  at  private  expense,  while  every  soldier 
was  glad  to  furnish  his  own  horse  as  well  as  his 
own  accoutrements.  Many  took  their  body  ser 
vants  with  them,  and  these  became  useful  in  fell 
ing  trees  and  throwing  up  breastworks,  a  work 
that  the  Federal  government  sought  to  interfere 
with  by  declaring  free  all  slaves  so  employed. 
Just  why  the  blacks  were  not  armed  by  Southern 
men  can  never  be  satisfactorily  explained.  It  is 
said  that  General  Lee  advised  it,  but  that  Davis 
set  his  face  against  the  proposition. 

In  the  efforts  of  the  South  its  women  displayed 
great  heroism ;  by  every  means  they  encouraged 
and  supported  those  who  fought  for  the  Stars  and 
Bars.  They  endured  privation;  they  suffered 
from  bitter  want  with  earnest  and  uncomplaining 
courage.  Old  clothing  was  turned  and  returned 
for  the  growing  children;  thorns  and  pegs  were 
employed  as  pins;  china-berries  and  persimmon 
seeds  were  converted  into  buttons;  substitutes, 
including  rye,  were  found  for  tea  and  coffee; 
and  countless  other  inventions  were  created  by 
the  necessities  of  the  times.  Every  loom  on  the 
plantation  was  set  to  work;  shoes,  stockings, 
and  clothing  were  made  for  those  in  the  field  as 
well  as  those  at  home.  Every  effort  was  made  to 
aid  the  cause  of  the  South. 

It  was  this  popular  devotion  to  a  cause — hesi 
tatingly  embraced  by  the  majority  of  Southern 
ers,  but  once  espoused  faithfully  adhered  to — 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   THE   CONFLICT     241 

that  was  the  life  of  the  Confederacy.  The  full 
strength  of  this  enthusiasm  was  not  reached  until 
the  Northern  armies  crossed  the  Potomac.  The 
whole  South  flew  to  arms  in  defence  of  home 
and  fireside,  and  the  logic  of  events  proved 
stronger  than  any  theoretical  arguments  based 
on  the  logic  of  Constitutional  law.  War  had 
come.  It  must  be  fought  until  the  last  man  fell 
in  the  ditch.  Thus,  to  the  Southerner  the  strug 
gle  once  entered  upon  became  a  fight  for  life — 
a  resistance  to  invaders. 


16 


X 

SOUTHERN    SUCCESSES 

THE  Confederate  generals  were  severely  criti 
cised  both  by  contemporary  journalists  and  by 
historians  of  the  South  for  not  having  followed 
the  victory  at  Bull  Run  by  marching  on  Washing 
ton.  Pollard  declares  that  "  for  days  there  was 
nothing  to  oppose  them  but  an  utterly  demoral 
ized  army  intent  upon  a  continuance  of  their 
flight  at  the  approach  of  our  forces."  He  pic 
tures  the  enemy  "  still  cowed,  dispirited,  and 
trembling  for  his  safety  in  the  refuges  of  Wash 
ington."  But  it  is  very  apparent  that  this  view 
of  the  case  minimizes  the  difficulties  which  were 
clearly  seen  by  the  leaders  of  the  Confederate 
forces.  Had  success  in  such  an  undertaking  ap 
peared  to  any  degree  possible,  the  failure  on  the 
part  of  Johnston  and  Beauregard  to  attempt  it 
would  be  unpardonable  from  the  Southern  stand 
point  ;  for  such  a  demonstration  in  the  Northern 
capital  would  have  had,  on  the  combatants  and 
on  the  rest  of  the  world,  a  moral  effect  so  great 
as  possibly  to  have  decided  the  ultimate  issue. 
But  Johnston  declares  that  "  all  the  military  con 
ditions  we  knew  forbade  an  attempt  on  Washing 
ton."  He  cites  the  facts  that  the  Confederate 
army  was  no  less  disorganized  than  that  of  the 
Union;  the  raw  troops  were  unprepared  for 
242 


SOUTHERN   SUCCESSES  243 

marching  or  assailing  intrenchments;  they  were 
in  want  of  necessary  rations  and  ammunition; 
moreover,  the  fortifications  to  be  assailed  were 
manned  by  undefeated  troops,  and  the  Potomac 
was  strongly  defended  by  United  States  war- 
vessels.  These  reasons,  which  convinced  John 
ston  of  the  impracticability  of  the  attack,  also 
reassured  the  Federal  generals  (though  not  Sec 
retary  Stanton)  of  the  safety  of  Washington. 
Cameron  telegraphed  to  New  York :  "  Our  works 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  Potomac  are  impreg 
nable,  being  well  manned  with  reinforcements. 
The  capital  is  safe." 

During  the  rest  of  the  summer  the  two  great 
armies  which  faced  each  other  in  the  valley  of 
Virginia  remained  inactive,  though  each  em 
ployed  the  time  in  the  drilling  of  recruits  and 
effective  preparations  for  future  work.  The 
Southern  side  was  enlivened  by  a  quarrel  be 
tween  President  Davis  and  General  Johnston 
over  a  question  of  precedence  affecting  the  latter. 
Jealousies  and  disputes  of  this  nature  continued 
among  the  Southern  leaders,  to  the  great  detri 
ment  of  their  cause. 

During  the  period  of  inactivity  between  the 
armies  in  Virginia  a  lively  little  war  was  being 
carried  on  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The 
principal  scene  of  these  hostilities  was  Missouri, 
where  in  May  a  severe  political  conflict,  in  which 
physical  force  was  brought  largely  into  play,  was 
waged  for  the  possession  of  the  State.  Gov 
ernor  Jackson's  attempt  to  carry  Missouri  into 


244  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

the  Confederacy  was  frustrated  by  the  adroitness 
and  determination  of  F.  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  and  General 
Lyon,  of  the  Federal  army.  On  the  I3th  of  June 
Governor  Jackson  issued  a  proclamation  calling 
for  fifty  thousand  volunteers  to  enter  "  into  the 
service  of  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  repelling 
invasion."  The  governor  was  actuated  by  a  de 
termination  to  insist  upon  Missouri's  right  to 
take  her  own  course  in  the  national  dispute.  He 
moved  the  capital  to  Boonville,  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  Missouri  River.  General  Lyon  fol 
lowed  him  on  the  2Oth  of  June  with  seven  thou 
sand  Federal  troops.  These  were  met  by  a  small 
force  of  Missourians, — a  "  barefoot  brigade/' — 
who  were  defeated,  but  not  until  they  had  shown 
that  they  were  of  good  fighting  metal. 

The  first  engagement  of  any  importance  was 
that  of  Carthage.  The  Federal  troops  were 
under  the  command  of  General  Sigel  and  Gen 
eral  Lyon.  The  brave  and  popular  General  Price 
led  the  men  of  Missouri.  Sigel  was  without  cav 
alry,  Price  was  deficient  in  artillery.  What  few 
cannon  the  Missourians  possessed,  they  were 
obliged,  for  want  of  better  ammunition,  to  load 
with  trace-chains,  bits  of  iron,  and  rocks.  When 
Sigel  first  saw  the  Missourian  troops  coming 
against  him,  he  sneered  at  their  lack  of  discipline. 
They  came  into  line  like  a  worm  fence.  But  after 
a  while  he  exclaimed  "  Great  God,  was  the  like 
ever  seen !  Raw  recruits,  unacquainted  with  war, 
standing  their  ground  like  veterans,  hurling  de 
fiance  at  every  discharge  of  the  batteries  against 


fr^Li.-^     /-i/  -  c«  .^ 


Xfrt- 


C/ 


^^"          /        — 


LETTER    FROM    "STONEWALL"    JACKSON    TO    MAJOR    FRENCH 


SOUTHERN   SUCCESSES  245 

them,  and  cheering  their  own  batteries  whenever 
discharged.  Such  material,  properly  worked  up, 
would  constitute  the  best  troops  in  the  world." 
Victory  was  with  the  Missourians;  and  though 
the  loss  of  men  was  not  great  on  either  side,  what 
was  of  more  importance,  from  the  spoils  of  vic 
tory  they  provided  themselves  with  much-needed 
arms. 

By  the  first  of  August,  1861,  Price  had  been 
reinforced  by  McCulloch  with  a  small  division  of 
regular  Confederate  soldiers,  while  Lyon  and 
Sigel  had  made  a  conjunction.  The  two  armies 
sought  each  other,  and  on  the  Qth  of  August 
they  collided  at  Wilson's  Creek.  General  Mc- 
Culloch's  official  report  of  this  engagement  says, 
"  No  two  opposing  forces  ever  fought  with 
greater  desperation;  inch  by  inch  the  enemy 
gave  way,  and  were  driven  from  their  position. 
Totten's  battery  fell  back;  Missourians,  Arkan- 
sans,  Louisianians,  and  Texans  pushed  forward; 
the  incessant  roll  of  musketry  was  deafening  and 
the  balls  fell  thick  as  hailstones;  but  still  our 
gallant  Southerners  pushed  onward,  and  with 
one  wild  yell  broke  upon  the  enemy,  pushing 
them  back  and  strewing  the  ground  with  their 
dead.  Nothing  could  withstand  the  impetuosity 
of  our  final  charge.  The  enemy  fled  and  could 
not  again  be  rallied."  This  was  a  severe  and  dis 
couraging  blow  to  the  Federal  forces.  They  lost 
not  far  from  two  thousand  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  prisoners.  The  brave  chief-in-command, 
Major-General  Lyon,  was  among  the  killed.. 


246  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

The  Confederates  gained  here  also  large  supplies 
of  arms  and  ammunition. 

In  the  mean  time  General  Fremont  had  been 
appointed  by  the  Federal  administration  to  take 
command  of  the  Missouri  department.  He  re 
solved  to  establish  a  military  line  from  Cape 
Girardeau,  on  the  Mississippi,  through  Ironton 
and  Rolla,  to  Jefferson  City  on  the  Missouri.  In 
this  work,  however,  he  was  hampered  by  the 
strong  secessionist  element  which  prevailed. 
Being  a  radical  Republican,  and  a  man  not  distin 
guished  by  any  noticeable  degree  of  tact,  he  re 
solved  on  a  dictatorial  measure  which  gave  the 
authorities  in  Washington  much  trouble  and  re 
sulted  in  his  own  downfall.  He  issued  a  procla 
mation  (August  30,  1861)  confiscating  the 
property  "  of  all  persons  in  the  State  of  Mis 
souri  who  shall  take  up  arms  against  the  United 
States,  or  who  shall  be  directly  proved  to  have 
taken  an  active  part  with  their  enemies  in  the 
field."  Their  slaves,  if  they  had  any,  were  de 
clared  free  men.  In  accordance  with  this  procla 
mation,  he  set  up  a  bureau  of  manumission,  and 
gave  papers  of  freedom  to  the  slaves.  How  little 
consideration  Fremont  gave  to  the  lawfulness  and 
expediency  of  this  action  is  shown  by  his  letter 
to  Lincoln,  in  which  he  says,  "  In  the  night  I 
decided  upon  the  proclamation.  I  wrote  it  the 
next  morning  and  printed  it  the  same  day.  I  did 
it  without  consultation  or  advice  from  any  one." 

Of  course,  the  abolitionists  and  the  radical  Re 
publicans  of  the  North  entirely  approved  of  Fre- 


SOUTHERN    SUCCESSES  247 

mont's  action.  Lincoln,  however,  though  it  was 
not  his  habit  to  insist  upon  particular  regard 
for  the  dignity  and  precedents  of  his  office,  was 
not  yet  ready  to  endorse  emancipation.  More 
over,  he  was  endeavoring  to  aid  the  Unionist 
citizens  of  Kentucky  in  retaining  the  loyalty  of 
that  State.  He  knew  that  this  proclamation 
would  be  likely  to  defeat  this  object.  There 
fore,  he  requested  Fremont  to  modify  the  ob 
jectionable  paragraph  so  as  to  bring  it  into 
accord  with  the  Confiscation  Act  of  Congress, 
approved  August  6.  The  caution  and  gentle 
ness  with  which  Lincoln  dealt  with  Fremont's 
arrogant  act  is  characteristic  of  the  man.  Never 
theless,  Sumner  wrote :  "  Our  President  is  now 
dictator,  imperator,  which  you  will;  but  how 
vain  to  have  the  power  of  a  god  and  not  to 
use  it  godlike."  A  terrible  dissension  arose  in 
the  Republican  party  over  this  matter.  A  large 
and  growing  number  in  the  North  wanted  aboli 
tion  outright  and  immediate,  and  were  bitterly 
disappointed  that  their  President  did  not  follow 
Fremont's  lead.  George  Hoadley,  afterwards 
governor  of  Ohio,  wrote  to  Secretary  Chase : 

'*  Our  people  are  in  a  state  of  great  consternation  and 
wrath  on  account  of  the  quarrel  between  Fremont  and  the 
Administration ;  ...  no  word  describes  popular  sentiment 
but  *  fury/  I  have  found  men  of  sense,  such  as  are  called 
conservative,  advocate  the  wildest  steps,  such  as  the  im 
peachment  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  formation  of  a  party  to  carry 
on  the  war  irrespective  of  the  President  and  under  Fremont, 
etc.,  etc.  For  myself,  I  must  say  that  if  the  letters  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  to  Magoffin  and  Fremont  are  any  fair  indication 


248  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

of  his  character  and  policy,  I  pray  God  to  forgive  my  vote 
for  him.  Loyal  men  are  giving  their  lives  and  means  like 
water  to  no  end,  if  the  imbecility  of  Buchanan's  administra 
tion  is  to  be  surpassed  thus.  I  cannot,  cannot  think  that 
your  wise  head  and  true  antislavery  heart  have  consented 
to  this  abasement  of  the  manhood  and  honor  of  our  nation. 
Let  Mr.  Lincoln,  while  he  is  conciliating  the  contemptible 
State  of  Kentucky,  a  State  which  ought  to  have  been  coerced 
long  ago,  bear  in  mind  that  the  free  States  may  want  a  little 
conciliation,  that  they  are  not  wasting  their  substance  to 
secure  the  niggers  of  traitors.  ...  I  have  never  heard  wilder 
or  more  furious  denunciation  than  yesterday  and  day  before 
found  expression  from  the  lips  of  cool  men.  Three  times 
I  was  applied  to  to  join  in  getting  up  a  public  meeting  to 
denounce  the  Administration  and  support  Fremont;  and 
while  no  such  disturbance  will  be  permitted,  I  am  neverthe 
less  certain  that  there  is  here  a  perfect  and,  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  very  angry  unanimity  in  support  both  of  Fremont's 
proclamation  and  of  his  action  at  St.  Louis  in  other  respects, 
expensive  though  it  may  have  been.  .  .  .  General  Fremont 
is  thus  far  the  favorite  of  the  Northwest,  because  he  has 
come  up  to  the  standard.  And  if  the  election  were  next 
fall,  to  displace  him  would  be  to  make  him  President." 


Two  months  after  the  issuing  of  his  proclama 
tion  Fremont  was  relieved  from  his  command  of 
the  military  department  of  the  West.  Previous 
to  this,  however,  he  sent  Colonel  Mulligan  to 
occupy  and  fortify  Lexington,  on  the  Missouri 
River,  with  a  force  of  three  thousand  men  and 
a  battery  of  artillery.  In  accordance  with  Fre 
mont's  instructions,  he  confiscated  the  funds, 
considerable  in  amount,  in  the  bank  at  Lexington. 
General  Price  hastened  to  Lexington  and  gave 
battle  to  the  Federals  before  the  plans  of  fortifi 
cation  could  be  accomplished.  A  peculiar  fea 
ture  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  were  the  movable 


SOUTHERN   SUCCESSES  249 

breastworks  which  General  Price  constructed  out 
of  bales  of  hemp.  After  fifty-two  hours  of  con 
tinuous  fighting,  Mulligan  was  compelled  to  sur 
render  on  September  20.  Pollard  recounts  an 
anecdote  which  illustrates  the  unscientific  nature 
of  the  Missouri  warfare : 

"  A  number  of  citizens  came  in  from  the  neighboring 
country,  and  fought,  as  they  expressed  it,  '  on  their  own 
hook.'  .  .  .  An  old  man,  about  sixty  years  of  age,  came  up 
daily  from  his  farm,  with  his  walnut  stock  rifle  and  a  basket 
of  provisions,  and  went  to  work  just  as  if  he  were  engaged 
in  hauling  rails  or  some  other  necessary  labor  of  his  farm. 
He  took  his  position  behind  a  large  stump  upon  the  descent 
of  the  hill  upon  which  the  fortification  was  constructed, 
where  he  fired  with  deadly  aim  during  each  day  of  the 
siege." 

The  Missourians  claim  to  have  lost  but  twenty- 
five  killed  and  seventy-two  wounded.  In  addition 
to  much  larger  casualties,  the  Union  forces  were 
depleted  by  over  three  thousand  prisoners. 

Until  September  Kentucky  had  considered 
herself  a  neutral  State.  From  among  her  popu 
lation  men  were  enlisted  for  both  armies.  But 
on  the  4th  of  September  General  Polk  occupied 
Columbus,  near  the  conjunction  of  the  Missouri 
and  the  Mississippi.  This  he  called  "  The  Gib 
raltar  of  the  West."  Kentucky's  Unionist  Legis 
lature  now  declared  that  her  neutrality  had 
been  invaded  by  the  Confederate  forces.  The 
governor  was  called  upon  to  expel  the  invaders, 
and  to  invoke  the  aid  of  the  United  States  gov 
ernment  for  that  purpose.  He  vetoed  these  reso 
lutions,  but  the  majority  of  the  people  were 


2 5o  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR, 

against  him,  and  Kentucky'  was  saved  to  the 
Union. 

Early  in  November  General  Grant,  under  the 
instructions  of  Fremont,  dropped  down  the  Mis 
sissippi  with  about  four  thousand  men,  and 
landed  on  the  Kentucky  shore  above  Columbus. 
From  thence  he  crossed  over  to  Belmont.  There 
he  attacked  General  Pillow,  who  was  in  command 
of  three  regiments  of  Confederate  troops,  and 
cut  his  way  into  the  enemy's  camp.  Exulting  in 
their  victory,  Grant's  men  dispersed  to  plunder 
the  enemy,  who,  meanwhile,  was  reinforced  by 
General  Polk.  Grant's  generalship  was  now  ex 
emplified  by  his  address  in  cutting  his  way  out 
of  a  perilous  position,  which  he  did  at  a  great 
loss  of  men  and  munitions.  This,  however, 
ended  for  a  time  the  war  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley. 

In  the  mean  time  the  inactivity  of  the  armies 
on  the  Potomac  was  varied  by  the  Federal  disas 
ter  at  Ball's  Bluff.  This  is  a  spot  about  thirty 
miles  above  Washington,  where  the  banks  of  the 
Potomac  are  steep  and  high.  General  Stone  had 
been  sent  to  reconnoitre  in  that  neighborhood 
upon  Confederate  troops  whose  intentions  were 
uncertain.  His  order  said,  "  Perhaps  a  slight 
demonstration  on  your  part  would  have  the 
effect  to  move  them."  This  was  leaving  a  good 
deal  to  Stone's  discretion.  Colonel  Devens  was 
sent  with  a  regiment  to  Harrison's  Island,  mid 
way  in  the  river  between  Poolsville  Landing  and 
Ball's  Bluff.  He  was  later  ordered  by  Stone  to 


SOUTHERN   SUCCESSES  251 

cross  to  the  latter  place  with  five  companies  of  his 
regiment,  to  surprise  a  Confederate  camp  whose 
existence  had  been  reported.  No  such  camp  was 
found,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  2ist  of  October 
Devens  was  resting  his  seven  hundred  men  in  an 
exposed  clearing  on  the  Bluff.  Here  he  was 
attacked,  and  Colonel  E.  D.  Baker,  at  the 
moment  in  command  of  the  brigade,  went  over 
to  Devens's  assistance.  They  were  attacked  by 
a  Confederate  force  from  out  of  the  dense  sur 
rounding  woods.  Baker  was  killed  and  the  Fed 
eral  troops  thrown  into  terrible  confusion.  They 
fled  in  every  direction,  many  falling  or  throwing 
themselves  over  the  steep  bluff.  Those  who  at 
tempted  to  swim  across  the  swift-flowing  river 
were  almost  all  either  drowned  or  shot. 

Out  of  a  force  of  less  than  two  thousand,  at 
least  a  thousand  were  killed,  wounded,  or  taken 
prisoners.  This  disaster,  so  humiliating  to  the 
North,  was  very  evidently  the  result  of  a  blunder. 
Somebody  must  be  punished  to  satisfy  public 
opinion.  Stone,  who  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
the  one  to  blame,  was  incarcerated  in  Fort  Lafay 
ette  for  six  months,  and  then  released  without 
trial  or  exculpation. 

Ball's  Bluff,  serious  as  it  was,  forms  an  incident 
in  the  preliminary  sparring  with  which  the  two 
armies  occupied  themselves,  to  the  intense  dis 
trust  of  the  people  on  both  sides,  during  the 
summer  and  autumn  of  1861.  McClellan,  who 
seemed  unable  to  make  up  his  mind  to  put  into 
action  the  organization  he  was  perfecting,  was 


252  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

still  disinclined  to  fight.  He  magnified  John 
ston's  army  of  fifty  thousand  troops  to  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  thousand.  He  drilled,  and  asked 
of  the  North  patience;  this  he  was  given  to  the 
utmost  limit. 

Early  in  the  war  the  United  States  found  that 
its  blockade  of  the  Southern  ports  could  not  be 
made  effective  without  the  possession  of  some 
Southern  harbors  as  coaling  stations  and  supply 
depots.  The  defence  of  Charleston,  Mobile,  and 
other  Southern  ports  forms  a  remarkable  chapter 
in  the  history  of  modern  warfare.  On  the  29th 
of  October,  1861,  there  steamed  out  of  Hampton 
Roads  fifty  vessels  under  sealed  orders.  It  was 
as  nondescript  an  assortment  of  craft  as  any 
modern  power  had  ever  formed  into  a  war-fleet. 
Their  destination  was  Port  Royal,  South  Caro 
lina,  where,  under  Flag-Officer  Dupont,  the  fleet 
was  to  concentrate.  Though  these  orders  were 
supposed  to  be  kept  a  profound  secret,  Benja 
min,  the  Confederate  Secretary  of  War,  tele 
graphed  Governor  Pickens,  Columbia,  South 
Carolina,  under  date  of  November  i :  "  I  have 
just  received  information  which  I  consider  en 
tirely  reliable,  that  the  enemy's  expedition  is  in 
tended  for  Port  Royal."  This  harbor  is  about 
midway  between  Savannah  and  Charleston.  The 
several  streams  flowing  into  it  form  numerous 
islands,  some  of  which  were  fortified,  the  prin 
cipal  forts  being  Walker  and  Beauregard,  on 
Hilton  Head  and  Philips  Island  respectively. 
The  Federal  war-ships,  headed  by  the  "  Wabash" 


SOUTHERN   SUCCESSES  253 

and  the  "  Susquehanna,"  circled  before  these 
forts  for  four  hours,  delivering  broadsides  until 
they  were  reduced.  This  successful  attack  gave 
possession  of  Port  Royal  and  the  adjacent  coast  to 
the  North. 

Shortly  before  the  Port  Royal  expedition  Gal- 
veston,  Texas,  had  been  bombarded  by  Com 
mander  Allen.  In  November,  1861,  Pensacola, 
Florida,  was  bombarded  by  Fort  Pickens  and 
United  States  war-vessels,  while  in  December  of 
the  same  year  there  was  a  naval  engagement  at 
Cape  Hatteras.  The  activity  of  the  naval  depart 
ment  of  the  Federal  government  was  now  intense 
and  persistent,  and  its  every  energy  was  bent  on 
increasing  the  number  of  available  ships.  The 
effort  bore  fruit  early  in  1862,  when  one  hundred 
and  twenty-six  war-ships,  carrying  upward  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  soldiers,  sailed  for 
the  South  and  almost  one  hundred  other  ships 
were  in  active  service. 

The  Civil  War  revolutionized  sea-fighting.  At 
its  close  the  men-of-war  which  had  theretofore 
been  relied  upon  by  the  most  advanced  nations 
of  the  world  were  rendered  useless  by  naval  fight 
ing  machines  against  which  they  were  as  vul 
nerable  as  card-houses.  The  Civil  War  brought 
in  the  ironclads  and  the  monitors.  The  "  Merri- 
mac"  was  the  first  vessel  of  this  class  to  come 
into  action.  She  was  built  in  1855,  and,  lying  in 
Elizabeth  River  at  the  time  when  the  Norfolk 
ship-yards  were  evacuated  by  the  United  States, 
she  was  sunk  so  that  she  might  not  be  of  use  to 


254  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

the  Confederates.  In  this,  however,  the  Federal 
intention  seriously  miscarried.  The  Confeder 
ates  conceived  the  possibility  of  converting  her 
into  a  "  shot-proof  steam  battery."  Being  raised, 
they  cut  her  down  to  within  three  feet  and  a  half 
of  her  water-line.  A  slanting  roof  covered  with 
iron  four  inches  thick  formed  her  armor.  She 
carried  ten  guns.  Her  armor  and  plan  of  arma 
ment  were  designed  by  Lieutenant  John  M. 
Brooke. 

From  the  construction  dock  the  "  Merrimac" 
went  immediately  into  battle,  for  the  need  of  her 
by  the  South  was  great.  On  the  8th  of  March, 
1862,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Buchanan, 
this  sea-monster  steamed  slowly  down  Elizabeth 
River  on  her  trial  trip,  the  intent  of  which  was  to 
do  deadly  work  upon  any  Federal  vessels  that 
should  come  in  her  way.  She  was  accompanied 
by  the  gunboats  "  Beaufort"  and  "  Raleigh," 
each  with  one  gun.  Later,  when  going  into 
action,  she  was  joined  by  the  "  Jamestown,"  with 
two  guns,  the  "  Teaser,"  with  one  gun,  and  the 
"  Patrick  Henry,"  with  twelve  guns.  The  Fed 
eral  force,  including  ships  and  shore  batteries, 
attacked  by  this  little  fleet,  mounted  three  hun 
dred  guns.  Selecting  the  "  Congress"  and  the 
"  Cumberland,"  two  frigates  lying  off  Newport 
News,  the  "  Merrimac"  first  tried  her  strength 
upon  them.  The  latter  she  struck  at  right  angles 
with  her  terrible  ram,  making  such  a  hole  in  her 
side  as  a  "  horse  and  cart  might  drive  through." 
The  "  Cumberland"  was  commanded  by  Lieu- 


SOUTHERN   SUCCESSES  255 

tenant  Morris,  and  notwithstanding  the  loss  of 
life  occasioned  by  the  blow  and  hot  fire  of  the 
"  Merrimac,"  he  gallantly  continued  fighting 
until,  after  thirty-five  minutes,  his  vessel  sank 
"  with  the  American  flag  flying  at  the  peak." 

The  "  Congress"  tried  to  escape,  but  she 
grounded,  and  her  sides  were  riddled  by  the 
"  Merrimac"  and  her  accompanying  escort  until 
the  Federal  commander  was  compelled  to  display 
the  white  flag.  Her  officers  surrendered,  but 
soon  afterwards  seized  an  opportunity  to  escape. 
The  vessel  burned  until  her  exploding  magazines 
blew  her  into  fragments.  The  United  States 
"  Minnesota"  also  stranded,  having  been  so 
pierced  and  pounded  by  the  Confederate  guns 
that  she  would  have  been  helpless  in  deep  water. 
The  "  Merrimac,"  though  one  hundred  guns  had 
been  concentrated  upon  her,  sustained  no  injury 
other  than  the  demolishing  of  her  smoke  stack 
and  the  weakening  or  breaking  of  her  ram. 

Darkness  preventing  further  action,  the  "  Mer 
rimac"  and  the  other  Confederate  vessels  retired; 
with  the  intention  of  finishing  their  work  on  the 
morrow.  But  by  the  dawn  of  the  pth  a  new 
antagonist  had  appeared  on  the  scene.  News  of 
the  construction  of  the  "  Merrimac"  had  reached 
the  North,  and  Northern  ingenuity  was  set  to 
work  to  produce  a  vessel  which  might  cope  with 
the  expected  monster.  John  Ericsson  had 
planned  and  constructed  the  "  Monitor,"  the  first 
turret-ship  which  was  accepted  by  the  Naval 
Commission.  "A  cheese  box  on  a  plank"  well 


256  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

describes  the  appearance  of  this  new  fighting 
craft.  She  was  protected  by  a  still  heavier  de 
fensive  armor  than  the  "  Merrimac,"  but  was 
armed  with  only  two  guns. 

The  details  of  the  duel  which  took  place  on 
the  9th  of  March,  1862,  between  these  two 
strange  fighting  craft  is  well  known.  Neither 
could  make  any  serious  impression  on  the  other. 
But  the  timely  appearance  of  the  "  Monitor"  not 
only  saved  the  "  Minnesota/'  but  cut  short  a 
career  for  the  "  Merrimac"  that  might  have  ren 
dered  the  history  of  the  Civil  War  vastly  differ 
ent  from  what  it  is.  Which  ironclad  had  the 
advantage  in  the  struggle  it  is  hard  to  say.  Their 
commanders  considered  that  further  battle  be 
tween  them  would  be  useless,  and  accordingly 
each  withdrew.  On  the  loth  of  May,  Johnston 
having  determined  to  retreat  from  the  Peninsula, 
the  Confederate  evacuation  of  Norfolk  became 
necessary,  and  the  "  Merrimac,"  being  both  un- 
seaworthy  and  of  too  deep  draft  to  ascend  the 
river,  was  burned.  No  other  vessel  of  her  design 
was  built,  but  "  monitors"  were  constructed,  and 
henceforth  the  ironclad  became  an  essential  ele 
ment  in  naval  warfare. 

The  South  continued  her  active  privateering, 
greatly  to  the  distress  of  the  North.  Moncure 
D.  Conway  characterizes  the  latter's  feelings  re 
garding  this  matter  in  "  The  Rejected  Stone :" 

"A  cry  comes  up  to  the  ear  of  America,  a  long,  piercing 
cry  of  amazement  and  indignation,  recognizable  as  one  which 
can  come  only  when  the  profoundest  emotions  of  the  human 


SOUTHERN   SUCCESSES  257 

pocket  are  stirred.  The  privateers  are  at  large !  They  have 
taken  away  my  coffee,  and  I  know  not  where  they  have  laid 
it.  They  have  taken  my  India  goods  with  swords  and  staves. 
For  my  first-class  ship  they  have  cast  lots. 

"  Was  such  depravity  ever  known  before  ?  So  long  as  it 
was  a  human  soul,  launched  by  God  on  the  eternal  sea,  that 
they  despoiled;  so  long  as  it  was  only  a  few  million  bales 
of  humanity  captured;  so  long  as  it  was  but  the  scuttling 
of  the  hearts  of  mothers  and  fathers  and  husbands  and 
wives,  we  remained  patient  and  resigned;  did  we  not?  But 
coffee  and  sugar  !  Good  God  !  What  is  that  blockade  about? 
To  seize  a  poor  innocent  sloop !  Has  slavery  no  bowels  ? 
And  its  helpless  family  of  molasses-barrels !  Can  hearts 
be  so  void  of  pity?  Slavery  must  end!  The  spirit  of  the 
age  demands  it.  The  blood  of  a  dozen  captured  freights 
crieth  to  Heaven  in  silveriest  accents  against  it.  Brothers, 
there  is  a  laughter  that  opens  into  the  fountain  of  tears." 

Stock  companies  were  organized  in  the  South 
for  the  purpose  of  making  a  business  of  preying 
upon  the  enemy's  commerce;  and  large  sums 
of  money  were  subscribed  for  the  purpose  of 
building  and  fitting  out  privateers.  The  New 
York  Herald  of  June  2,  1861,  says : 

"  On  the  26th  of  last  month  there  were  under  seizure,  or 
as  prizes  in  the  port  of  New  Orleans,  the  following  vessels. 
[Then  follows  the  list.]  Of  the  above  vessels  some  doubt 
attaches  as  to  the  seizure  of  the  "  Enoch  Train"  and  "  Wil 
bur  Fiske,"  but  the  probabilities  are  that  they  have  been 
confiscated.  The  seizures  made  by  the  Confederates  up  to 
the  last  accounts  may  be  thus  enumerated: 

Off  the  different  ports  12 

In  port  30 

Steamers  captured  on  the  Mississippi  15 

Total   57." 

"We  are  satisfied,"  the  New  York  Herald  of  August  10, 
1861,  says,  "that  already  twenty  million  dollars'  worth  of 

17 


258  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

property  has  been  lost  in  various  ways  through  the  opera 
tions  of  these  highwaymen  of  the  seas,  increasing  daily  in 
number,  and  becoming  more  and  more  daring  from  im 
punity.  The  worst  effect  is  not  the  loss  of  the  vessels  and 
their  cargoes,  but  the  destruction  of  our  trade.  Our  com 
merce  with  the  West  Indies  was  immense  before  the  pirates 
commenced  their  depredations.  Now  no  Northern  vessel 
will  get  a  charter  or  can  be  insured  for  any  reasonable  pre 
mium.  English  bottoms  are  taking  all  our  trade.  When 
the  '  Great  Eastern'  was  here  she  could  have  been  filled  with 
cargo  if  her  draft  of  water  were  not  so  great.  Thus  our 
shipping  interest  is  literally  ruined." 

The  most  famous  of  the  commerce-destroying 
cruisers  was  the  "  Alabama."  Captain  Bulloch 
bought  her  of  Liverpool  ship-builders  for  £47,- 
500.  At  the  ship-yards  she  was  known  as  "  No. 
290."  That  she  was  designed  for  Confederate 
service  Minister  Adams  very  well  knew.  He 
strongly  exerted  himself  to  have  her  seized  by 
the  British  authorities.  But  before  the  slow- 
moving  English  officials  had  taken  action  the 
"  Alabama"  sailed.  On  August  24  she  was  duly 
commissioned  as  a  Confederate  States  cruiser, 
Captain  Semmes,  commander.  She  was  one 
thousand  and  forty  tons  burden,  carried  eight 
guns,  and  had  a  steam-propeller.  The  latter 
could  be  lifted  out  of  the  water,  and  then  she 
worked  as  a  sailing  vessel  of  barkentine  rig.  The 
record  of  her  success  as  a  commerce-destroyer 
was  phenomenal.  One  of  her  earliest  successes 
was  the  engagement  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  in 
January,  1862,  with  the  United  States  gunboat 
"  Hatteras,"  which  she  defeated  in  thirteen 
minutes.  The  Atlantic  was  the  scene  of  her 


SOUTHERN   SUCCESSES  259 

greatest  success,  although  the  Pacific  and  Indian 
Oceans  were  swept  by  her.  After  two  years  of 
ceaseless  activity,  by  which  over  ten  millions  of 
dollars'  worth  of  ships  and  their  cargoes  were 
captured  or  destroyed,  the  "  Alabama"  put  in 
at  Cherbourg,  France,  to  refit.  On  June  19  she 
came  from  the  harbor  and  engaged  the  United 
States  sloop  of  war  "  Kearsarge,"  which  was  of 
somewhat  heavier  metal  and  in  much  better  con 
dition  to  fight.  In  less  than  two  hours  the  "  Ala 
bama"  was  a  sunken  wreck.  Her  crew  was  res 
cued  by  the  English  yacht  "  Deerhound." 

The  "  Florida"  was  another  Confederate  vessel 
bargained  for  and  built  in  England.  In  the  ship 
yard  she  went  under  the  name  "  Oreto,"  and 
sailed  with  English  officers  and  crew.  Her  arma 
ment  was  placed  aboard  after  she  got  to  sea,  and 
then,  having  taken  the  name  "  Florida,"  and 
command  of  her  being  assumed  by  Captain  J.  N. 
Maffitt,  she  proceeded  to  make  prizes  until  Octo 
ber  7,  1863,  when  she  was  compelled  to  surrender 
to  the  United  States  "  Wachusett"  at  Bahia, 
Brazil.  This  capture  was  in  most  flagrant  con 
tradiction  to  international  law.  Brazil  made  de 
mand  that  she  be  returned  with  her  crew.  But 
though  this  was  agreed  to  by  the  United  States, 
it  was  never  carried  out,  for  while  lying  in  Hamp 
ton  Roads  an  army  transport  struck  her  under 
the  pretence  of  accident,  and  very  soon  there 
after  she  sank  at  her  mooring,  those  in  charge 
of  the  ship  having  opened  the  water-cocks  in  her 
hull. 


260  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

The  "  Georgia"  took  but  nine  prizes,  and  after 
a  year  was  sold.  The  "  Shenandoah"  cruised 
with  considerable  success  in  the  Northern  Pacific. 

On  November  8,  1861,  occurred  the  seizure 
on  board  the  British  steamer  "  Trent"  of  the 
Southern  commissioners,  Mason  and  Slidell,  by 
Captain  Wilkes,  of  the  United  States  war-ship 
"  San  Jacinto."  This  infringement  of  interna 
tional  law  produced  such  an  effect  that  for  a 
time  there  was  danger  that  England  would  de 
clare  war  against  the  United  States.  The  people 
of  the  North  were  carried  away  with  thought 
less  enthusiasm  over  the  bold  action  of  Captain 
Wilkes.  Even  Secretary  of  the  Navy  Welles 
declared  officialy  that  "  the  prompt  and  decisive 
action  of  Captain  Wilkes  on  this  occasion 
merited  and  received  the  emphatic  approval  of 
the  Department."  In  England  warlike  prepa 
rations  were  made,  and  troops  were  sent  on  ship 
board  ready  for  transportation  to  Canada.  But 
fortunately  the  United  States  had  in  Charles 
Francis  Adams  the  right  man  at  the  British 
Court.  England  was  satisfied  with  an  apology 
and  the  release  of  the  prisoners.  The  Spectator 
said: 

"  Mr.  Seward  has  for  once  made  a  hit.  In  his  recent  cor 
respondence  with  Lord  Lyons  he  has  developed,  possibly 
from  a  novel  consciousness  of  being  in  the  right,  an  unex 
pected  self-restraint,  and,  writing  like  a  gentleman,  is  victo 
rious  as  a  diplomatist." 

The  Times  said  of  Mason  and  Slidell: 


SOUTHERN   SUCCESSES  261 

"  Impartial  as  the  British  public  is  in  the  matter,  it  cer 
tainly  has  no  prejudice  in  favor  of  slavery,  which,  if  any 
thing,  these  gentlemen  represent.  They  must  not  suppose, 
because  we  have  gone  to  the  very  verge  of  a  great  war  to 
rescue  them,  that  therefore  they  are  precious  in  our  eyes. 
We  should  have  done  just  as  much  to  rescue  two  of  their 
own  negroes,  and,  had  that  been  the  object  of  the  rescue, 
the  swarthy  Pompey  and  Caesar  would  have  had  just  the 
same  right  to  triumphal  arches  and  municipal  addresses  as 
Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell.  So  please,  British  public,  let's 
have  none  of  these  things." 

England's  seeming  duplicity  in  her  attitude 
towards  the  contending  parties  was  the  result  of 
a  contradiction  between  her  moral  sentiment  and 
her  mercantile  interests.  She  was  opposed  to 
slavery,  but  she  needed  cotton.  On  the  other 
hand,  she  was  willing  to  see  the  nation  across  the 
Atlantic,  which  threatened  commercial  rivalry, 
weakened  by  disruption;  but  that  was  putting 
a  future  prospect  over  against  a  present  and 
pressing  need.  England's  haste  in  proclaiming 
neutrality  was  actuated  by  President  Davis's 
course  in  regard  to  privateers.  Had  not  neutral 
ity  been  proclaimed,  she  would  have  seemed  to 
the  Confederates  as  taking  sides  with  their  adver 
sary,  and  her  own  maritime  interests  would  have 
suffered.  Again,  England  was  not  unwilling  to 
see  American  bottoms,  which  at  that  time  had  a 
due  share  of  the  world's  carrying  trade,  preyed 
upon  and  driven  off  the  high  seas.  The  North 
was  greatly  annoyed  at  England's  haste,  and 
much  jingoism  was  displayed.  Seward  even  rep 
resented  this  sentiment  in  his  despatches  to  the 
British  government.  But  fortunately,  Charles 


262  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

Francis  Adams  was,  by  his  birth  and  training, 
as  well  as  by  the  natural  qualities  of  his  mind, 
especially  fitted  to  safeguard  the  interests  of  the 
North  at  the  court  of  St.  James,  and  he  trans 
lated  the  Secretary  of  State's  reckless  language 
into  the  suave  terms  of  diplomacy.  But  it  was 
with  difficulty  that  he  convinced  the  members  of 
the  British  Cabinet  of  the  injustice  of  an  imme 
diate  recognition  of  the  Confederacy. 

Lord  Palmerston  fully  expressed  the  English 
mind  on  the  matter  when  he  said,  "  We  do  not 
like  slavery,  but  we  want  cotton,  and  we  dislike 
very  much  your  moral  tariff."  Punch  gave  the 
same  idea  in  words  calculated  to  please  the  public 
ear.  It  printed  "  The  National  Hymn  of  the 
Confederate  States :" 

"  When  first  the  South,  to  fury  fanned, 
Arose  and  broke  the  Union's  chain, 
This  was  the  Charter,  the  Charter  of  the  land, 

And  Mr.  Davis  sang  the  strain; 
Rule  Slavonia,  Slavonia  rules  and  raves, 
Christians  ever,  ever,  ever,  have  had  slaves." 

Another  effusion  of  the  same  character  was 
the  following: 

"  Though  with  the  North  we  sympathize, 

It  must  not  be  forgotten 
That  with  the  South  we've  stronger  ties, 

Which  are  composed  of  cotton. 
Whereof  our  imports  mount  unto 

A  sum  of  many  figures; 
And  where  would  be  our  calico 

Without  the  toil  of  niggers? 


SOUTHERN   SUCCESSES  263 

"  The  South  enslaves  those  fellow-men, 

Whom  we  love  all  so  dearly ; 
The  North  keeps  commerce  bound  again, 

Which  touches  us  more  nearly. 
Thus  a  divided  duty  we 

Perceive  in  this  hard  matter: 
Free-trade,  or  sable  brothers  free? 

Oh,  won't  we  choose  the  latter!" 

France,  untrue  to  her  traditions,  was  with 
England  on  this  occasion;  she,  also,  believed 
that  the  attempt  of  the  Confederates  to  destroy 
the  American  Union  would  be  beneficial  to  her 
interests. 

It  was  absolutely  necessary,  in  view  of  the  cir 
cumstances,  that  the  United  States  should  at 
once  demonstrate  her  ability  to  cope  successfully 
with  the  rebellion.  This  she  was  not  doing. 
McClellan  remained  quiet  on  the  Potomac. 
Such  battles  as  were  being  fought  were,  with 
deadly  monotony,  favorable  to  the  Southern 
cause.  Affairs  looked  black  for  the  North  at  the 
end  of  the  year  1861.  Yet  President  Lincoln,  in 
his  message  of  December  3  to  Congress,  asserted 
that  the  cause  of  the  Union  was  "  advancing 
steadily  and  certainly  southward."  It  was  cheer 
ing  to  the  North  that  she  had  an  optimist  for 
President. 


XI 

THE    WAR    IN    THE    WEST 

THE  first  year  of  the  war  was  in  a  great  meas 
ure  a  preliminary  skirmish,  during  which  both 
sides  learned  that  the  struggle  was  to  be  no 
child's  play,  but  a  duel  that  was  to  call  forth 
every  element  of  human  strength.  So  marked  is 
the  difference  henceforth  in  the  nature  of  the 
conflict  that  in  a  sense  one  enters  on  an  entirely 
different  period  of  history  from  that  in  which 
the  disruption  of  the  Union  occurred.  In  point 
of  fact,  however,  the  struggle  is  the  same  as  that 
of  the  year  before, — aye,  the  same  that  had  been 
going  on  since  Colonial  days;  it  only  reaches  a 
whiter  heat.  Hitherto,  kindly  sentiments  and  the 
alluring  charm  of  past  associations  had  veiled 
in  part  the  hatred  that  lurked  in  the  shadows  on 
both  sides  of  the  Potomac;  but  now  the  fiercer 
passions  of  war  had  thrown  aside  their  masks, 
and  the  two  peoples,  old  and  young,  men  and 
women,  glared  at  each  other  with  murderous 
hearts. 

The  year  1862  did  not  open  with  much  promise 
to  either  side.  The  South  had  won  the  most  con 
siderable  battles,  and  the  North  had  at  least 
come  to  realize  something  of  the  task  which  was 
before  her.  The  advantages  she  had  gained  con 
sisted  in  the  retention  in  the  Union  of  Ken- 
264 


THE   WAR   IN   THE   WEST  265 

tucky,  Missouri,  and  West  Virginia;  the  pos 
session  of  Hatteras  Inlet  and  Port  Royal,  Fort 
Monroe  and  Fort  Pickens;  also,  the  establish 
ment  of  the  blockade  of  the  whole  Southern 
ports.  The  plan  of  attack  was  now  developed, 
and  its  general  features,  as  earlier  outlined,  was 
consistently  followed  to  the  end  of  the  war. 
Broadly  speaking,  its  purpose  was  to  compress 
the  Confederacy  from  all  sides,  cutting  off  sup 
plies  by  means  of  the  blockade;  to  deal  death 
blows  by  driving  expeditions  through  its  heart. 
This  latter  end  necessitated  the  breaking  through 
of  the  Southern  defence  of  the  East  and  West 
Railway.  The  key  of  this  defence  consisted  in 
the  possession  of  Fort  Henry  and  Fort  Donelson 
on  the  Tennessee  and  Cumberland  Rivers. 

The  only  weakness  in  the  position  of  the  North 
was  in  her  military  organization.  The  immense 
army  which  had  been  gathered  was  weakened 
and  rendered  inefficient  by  disharmony  and  fric 
tion  at  head-quarters,  and  by  jealous  rivalry  of 
ambitious  officers.  Men  were  forthcoming  in 
numbers  greater  than  the  State  needed  or  could 
use.  There  is  this  evidence  of  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  North.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  clearly  ap 
parent  that  the  war  was  made,  by  many  men  high 
in  position,  simply  an  occasion  for  pushing  their 
own  private  fortunes.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
first  year  Mr.  Chase  wrote  to  Secretary  of  War 
Cameron : 

"  The  want  of  success  of  our  armies  and  the  difficulties  of 
our  financial  operations  have  not  been  in  consequence  of  a 


266  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

want  or  excess  of  men,  but  for  want  of  systematic  adminis 
tration.  If  the  lack  of  economy  and  the  absence  of  account 
ability  are  allowed  to  prevail  in  the  future  as  in  the  past, 
bankruptcy  and  the  success  of  the  rebellion  will  be  necessary 
consequences." 

Cameron  himself  was  probably  innocent  of 
using  his  position  for  pecuniary  advantage;  but 
it  is  equally  certain  that  he  allowed  himself  to  be 
led  into  the  signing  of  contracts  by  persons  who 
were  ready  to  rob  the  government  to  the  fullest 
extent  of  possibility.  On  November  13  Senator 
Grimes  wrote  to  Fessenden :  "  We  are  going  to 
destruction  as  fast  as  imbecility,  corruption,  and 
the  wheels  of  time  can  carry  us."  Later  he  de 
clares  that  a  flood  of  corruption  "is  sweeping 
over  the  land  and  perverting  the  moral  sense  of 
the  people.  The  army  is  in  most  inextricable 
confusion,  and  is  becoming  worse  and  worse 
every  day."  The  House  of  Representatives, 
April  30,  1862,  passed  a  vote  of  censure  upon 
Cameron,  who  in  January  had  been  dismissed 
from  the  Cabinet  by  President  Lincoln  and  sent 
as  minister  to  Russia.  Edward  M.  Stanton  was 
appointed  Secretary  of  War,  and  proved  a 
striking  illustration  of  the  imbecility  of  the 
political  system  which  appoints  men  to  posi 
tions  for  which  'they  have  no  fitness  either  by 
nature  or  by  training. 

The  grand  army  of  the  Potomac  was  still  drill 
ing.  Early  in  the  year  McClellan  was  taken  sick ; 
his  army  must  remain  inactive  until  he  recov 
ered.  On  January  10,  1862,  Lincoln  said  before 


THE    WAR   IN   THE   WEST  267 

a  council  of  war  at  the  White  House,  "I  am  in 
great  distress.  If  something  is  not  done  soon  the 
bottom  will  be  out  of  the  whole  affair;  and  if 
General  McClellan  does  not  want  to  use  the 
army  I  would  like  to  borrow  it,  provided  I  could 
see  how  it  could  be  made  to  do  something."  On 
the  2/th  of  January,  1862,  Lincoln,  with  a  de 
pendence  on  sentiment  which  was  not  unusual 
with  him,  issued  the  remarkable  order  that  there 
should  be  "  a  general  movement  of  the  land  and 
naval  forces  of  the  United  States  against  the  in 
surgent  forces  on  the  22d  of  February."  This 
order  was  issued  more  for  the  sake  of  its  effect 
on  the  minds  of  the  Confederates  than  on  the 
movements  of  the  Union  forces.  It  inaugurated 
one  campaign,  however,  which  was  successful; 
the  result  was  the  breaking  of  the  Confederate 
line  of  defence  which  extended  from  Bowling 
Green  to  Columbus,  At  this  time  Buell  was  at 
Louisville.  There  was  a  force  of  Confederates 
at  Mill  Springs  on  the  Cumberland  River,  un 
der  General  Zollicoffer.  General  Thomas  was 
sent  against  the  Confederates  and  a  battle  was 
fought,  which  resulted  in  the  death  of  Zollicoffer 
and  in  the  opening  of  the  way  for  an  attack  on 
the  centre  of  the  Confederate  line  of  defence. 
Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  at  that  period  the  most 
able  general  of  the  Confederacy,  was  in  com 
mand  of  the  forces  in  that  part  of  the  country. 
After  some  trouble  General  Grant  induced  Hal- 
leek  to  permit  him  to  go  against  the  forts  on 
the  Cumberland  and  the  Tennessee,  supported 


268  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

by  gunboats  under  the  command  of  Flag-Officer 
Foote.  On  the  6th  of  February  the  troops  and 
gunboats  advanced  to  the  assault  of  Fort  Henry. 
The  Confederates,  numbering  less  than  three 
thousand  men,  were  under  the  command  of  Colo 
nel  Tilghman.  He  sent  all  of  his  force  save  sixty- 
six  men  to  Fort  Donelson.  With  the  handful  of 
troops  that  remained  he  held  the  fort  until  on  the 
third  day  of  the  investment  he  was  forced  to  sur 
render.  The  taking  of  Fort  Donelson  was  an 
operation  of  a  different  character.  It  brought 
out  in  Grant  those  qualities  of  generalship,  espe 
cially  his  tenacity  of  purpose  and  his  capacity  for 
adapting  his  plans  to  the  special  character  of  the 
circumstances  which  confronted  him,  which  dis 
tinguished  his  after  career  and  gave  him  success. 
Fort  Donelson  was  under  the  command  of  John 
B.  Floyd,  who  had  been  Secretary  of  War  under 
Buchanan.  Grant  understood  Floyd's  character, 
knew  that  he  was  a  man  entirely  devoid  of  cour 
age,  and  planned  the  attack  accordingly.  He 
strung  his  army  of  nearly  thirty  thousand  men 
over  eight  miles  of  country.  There  were  about 
twenty  thousand  men  in  the  fort.  Had  Floyd 
made  a  sally  before  Grant  strengthened  his  thin 
line  by  sending  to  Fort  Henry  for  Lew  Wal 
lace,  it  might  have  been  successful.  But  Grant's 
calculation  of  the  safety  of  taking  the  chances 
was  justified.  The  assault  was  made  on  the 
evening  of  the  I5th,  and  during  the  night  fol 
lowing  the  besieged  generals  determined  to  sur 
render. 


THE   WAR    IN   THE   WEST  269 

Lew  Wallace,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  was  on 
the  ground,  thus  describes  the  charge  led  by 
General  Smith : 


"Taking  Lauman's  brigade,  General  Smith  began  the  ad 
vance.  They  were  under  fire  instantly.  The  guns  in  the  fort 
joined  in  with  the  infantry,  who  were  at  the  time  in  the 
rifle-pits,  the  great  body  of  the  Confederate  right  wing  being 
with  General  Buckner.  The  defence  was  greatly  favored  by 
the  ground,  which  subjected  the  assailants  to  a  double  fire 
from  the  beginning  of  the  abatis.  The  men  have  said  that 
'it  looked  too  thick  for  a  rabbit  to  get  through.'  General 
Smith,  on  his  horse,  took  position  in  the  front  and  centre 
of  the  line.  Occasionally  he  turned  in  the  saddle  to  see  how 
the  alignment  was  kept.  For  the  most  part,  however,  he 
held  his  face  steadily  towards  the  enemy.  He  was,  of 
course,  a  conspicuous  object  for  the  sharp-shooters  in  the 
rifle-pits.  The  air  around  him  twittered  with  minie  bullets. 
Erect  as  if  on  review,  he  rode  on,  timing  the  gait  of  his  horse 
with  the  movement  of  his  colors.  A  soldier  said,  '  I  was 
nearly  scared  to  death,  but  I  saw  the  old  man's  white 
moustache  over  his  shoulder,  and  went  on.' 

"  On  to  the  abatis  the  regiments  moved  without  hesitation, 
leaving  a  trail  of  dead  and  wounded  behind.  There  the  fire 
seemed  to  get  trebly  hot,  and  some  of  the  men  halted, 
whereupon,  seeing  the  hesitation,  General  Smith  put  his  cap 
on  the  point  of  his  sword,  held  it  aloft,  and  called  out,  '  No 
flinching  now,  my  lads  !  Here — this  is  the  way !  Come  on  !' 
He  picked  a  path  through  the  jagged  limbs  of  the  trees, 
holding  his  cap  all  the  time  in  sight;  and  the  effect  was 
magical.  The  men  swarmed  in  after  him,  and  got  through 
in  the  best  order  they  could — not  all  of  them,  alas !  On  the 
other  side  of  the  obstruction  they  took  the  semblance  of  re 
formation  and  charged  in  after  their  chief,  who  found  him 
self  then  between  the  two  fires.  Up  the  ascent  he  rode;  up 
they  followed.  At  the  last  moment  the  keepers  of  the  rifle- 
pits  clambered  out  and  fled.  The  four  regiments  engaged  in 
the  feat  planted  their  colors  on  the  breastwork.  Later  in  the 
day  Buckner  came  back  with  his  division,  but  all  his  efforts 
to  dislodge  Smith  were  in  vain." 


2  7o  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

The  fort  was  practically  won,  as  was  well  un 
derstood  by  its  defenders.  Floyd,  and  also  Gen 
eral  Pillow,  the  second  in  command,  had  more 
than  sufficient  reasons  for  not  desiring  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  Union  officials ;  they  feared 
they  would  be  hanged.  The  manner  in  which 
these  officers  decided  on  their  surrender  is  in 
terestingly  picturesque,  and  is  thus  described  6y 
Jefferson  Davis : 

"  The  decision  to  surrender  having  been  made,  it  re 
mained  to  determine  by  whom  it  should  be  made.  Generals 
Floyd  and  Pillow  declared  they  would  not  surrender  and 
become  prisoners ;  the  duty  was  therefore  allotted  to  Gen 
eral  Buckner.  Floyd  said,  '  General  Buckner,  if  I  place  you 
in  command,  will  you  allow  me  to  draw  out  my  brigade?' 
General  Buckner  replied,  '  Yes,  provided  you  do  so  before 
the  enemy  act  upon  my  communication/  Floyd  said,  '  Gen 
eral  Pillow,  I  turn  over  the  command.'  General  Pillow, 
regarding  this  as  a  mere  technical  form  by  which  the  com 
mand  was  to  be  conveyed  to  Buckner,  then  said,  '  I  pass  it.' 
Buckner  assumed  the  command,  sent  for  a  bugler  to  sound 
the  parley,  for  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  and  opened  the  negotia 
tions  for  surrender." 

All  the  world  knows  Grant's  reply  to  Buck- 
ner's  demand  for  terms, — "  No  terms,  except  an 
immediate  and  unconditional  surrender,  can  be 
accepted.  I  propose  to  move  immediately  upon 
your  works." 

By  the  capture  of  Fort  Donelson  Grant  de 
pleted  the  Southern  forces  to  the  extent  of  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  thousand  prisoners;  also,  he 
took  forty  pieces  of  artillery  and  a  large  amount 
of  stores,  etc.  But  more  than  all,  by  the  manner 
in  which  he  had  broken  into  the  Southern  de- 


THE   WAR    IN   THE   WEST  271 

fence  he  had  proved  himself  to  be  the  coming 
man.  On  the  morning  of  February  17  the  North 
heard  her  first  really  important  and  cheering 
news  from  the  war.  Grant's  name  was  on  every 
body's  lips.  "  Who  is  this  U.  S.  Grant?"  people 
asked.  "  Unconditional  Surrender  Grant,  I  sup 
pose,"  was  the  answer  made  by  characteristic 
American  humor. 

The  fall  of  Fort  Donelson  was  a  severe  dis 
couragement  to  the  South.  It  resulted  in  push 
ing  the  Confederate  line  of  defence  two  hundred 
miles  to  the  southward.  It  secured  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee  to  the  Union. 

Who  and  what  was  the  man  who  had  thus  so 
effectually  changed  the  face  of  the  situation,  and 
was  eventually  to  bring  complete  victory  to  the 
Northern  arms  ?  At  this  time  forty  years  of  age, 
his  life  had  hitherto  been  a  complete  failure. 
Born  in  Clermont  County,  Ohio,  of  poor  parents, 
he  received  no  education  but  such  as  the  scanty 
opportunities  of  the  common  schools  afforded, 
until  he  was  appointed  to  West  Point.  His 
standing  there  was  not  high.  He  was  graduated 
in  1843  twenty-first  in  a  class  of  thirty-nine.  He 
served  with  honor  during  the  Mexican  War.  In 
1852,  being  then  a  first-lieutenant,  he  was  sent 
with  his  regiment  to  the  Pacific  coast.  Here, 
separated  from  his  family,  he  fell  into  dissipated 
habits.  In  1854  he  was  practically  forced  to  re 
sign  his  commission,  which  was  then  that  of  a 
captain,  and  went  back  to  St.  Louis,  where  he 
unsuccessfully  endeavored  to  make  a  living  on 


2 72  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

his  wife's  farm.  Then  he  tried  real  estate  busi 
ness,  and  made  a  failure.  At  the  age  of  thirty- 
eight  we  find  him  looking  to  his  father  and  his 
younger  brother  for  assistance.  The  latter  put 
him  in  charge  of  a  hardware  store  in  Galena,  Illi 
nois.  Grant  at  this  time  was  still  under  the  in 
fluence  of  habits  of  intemperance.  Acquaint 
ances  would  cross  the  street  to  avoid  meeting 
him  and  being  importuned  for  loans.  His  army 
comrades  were  at  this  time  under  the  impression 
that  the  life  of  U.  S.  Grant  was  completely 
wrecked. 

But  the  nation's  emergency  was  Grant's  op 
portunity.  He  was  a  fighter,  a  military  leader, 
and  nothing  more.  In  May  of  1861,  he  applied 
to  the  adjutant-general  of  the  army  for  a  regi 
ment,  and  was  totally  ignored.  He  went  to  Cin 
cinnati,  where  McClellan  had  his  head-quarters 
of  the  Department  of  the  Ohio,  but  was  not  re 
ceived.  Before  the  year  was  over,  however,  such 
was  the  need  of  the  nation  that  his  past  was  over 
looked  and  he  was  appointed  a  brigadier-general 
of  volunteers.  Grant  had  sagacity  for  general 
ship;  he  possessed  a  natural  savoir  faire.  He 
was  endowed  with  a  courage  which  was  marvel 
lous;  not  alone  personal  coolness  in  the  face 
of  danger,  but  also  that  which  enabled  him  to 
take  the  gravest  chances  as  a  general.  He 
schooled  himself  in  the  idea  that  the  enemy 
was  just  as  much  afraid  of  him  as  he  was  of  the 
enemy. 

February  22,  1861,  was  the  day  appointed  for 


THE    WAR   IN   THE   WEST  273 

the  change  from  a  provisional  to  a  permanent 
Confederate  government.  On  this  occasion  Jef 
ferson  Davis  voiced  the  sentiment  of  the  South : 
"  After  a  series  of  successes  and  victories  which 
covered  our  arms  with  glory,  we  have  recently 
met  with  serious  disasters^.  But  in  the  heart  of 
a  people  resolved  to  be  free  these  disasters  tend 
but  to  stimulate  to  increased  resistance." 

A.  S.  Johnston  had  by  this  time  concentrated 
his  forces  at  Nashville.  He  was  selected  by  the 
people  as  the  one  to  blame  for  the  reverses  to 
the  Confederate  arms.  The  Senators  and  Rep 
resentatives  from  Tennessee  waited  on  Davis  and 
demanded  his  removal.  The  President's  answer 
was,  "  If  Sidney  Johnston  is  not  a  general,  the 
Confederacy  has  none  to  give  you." 

Johnston  was  compelled  by  the  appearance  of 
Buell  to  evacuate  Nashville.  He  marched  back 
to  Pittsburg  Landing,  whither  Grant  brought  his 
forces  from  Donelson,  planning  a  junction  with 
Buell.  Johnston,  foreseeing  that  Corinth  would 
be  the  centre  of  attack,  was  making  every  effort 
to  protect  that  point.  Bragg  thus  describes 
Johnston's  army: 

"  It  consisted  of  such  levies  as  could  be  hastily  raised,  all 
badly  armed  and  equipped.  ...  It  was  a  heterogeneous 
mass,  in  which  there  was  more  enthusiasm  than  discipline, 
more  capacity  than  knowledge,  more  valor  than  instruction. 
Rifles,  rifled  and  smooth-bore  muskets, — some  of  them  origi 
nally  percussion,  others  hastily  altered  from  flint-locks  by 
Yankee  contractors,  many  with  the  old  flint  and  steel, — and 
shot-guns  of  all  sizes  and  patterns  held  place  in  the  same 
regiments." 

18 


274  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

This  army  was  organized  in  four  divisions  un 
der  Polk,  Bragg,  Hardee,  and  Breckenridge. 

Johnston  knew  that  Buell  was  expected,  and 
determined  to  give  battle  before  Grant  was  thus 
reinforced.  The  latter  seems  to  have  displayed 
an  over-confidence  on  this  occasion.  He  had 
neglected  to  sufficiently  fortify  himself;  and  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  he  was  not  aware  of  the 
strength  of  Johnston.  Early  on  the  morning  of 
the  6th  of  April  a  reconnoitring  party  from  the 
Union  army  engaged  Johnston's  pickets,  and  the 
famous  battle  of  Shiloh  was  on.  Grant  was  some 
distance  away  at  the  Landing,  looking  for  tidings 
of  Buell.  His  army  was  engaged  before  he  could 
return  to  make  dispositions.  The  day's  fighting 
resulted  in  a  success  for  the  Confederates.  But 
they  lost  Johnston,  who  was  killed.  This  event 
resulted  in  the  complete  turn  of  fortune  which 
occurred  on  the  following  day.  General  Beaure- 
gard  thus  describes  the  first  day's  victory : 

"  Like  an  Alpine  avalanche  our  troops  moved  forward, 
despite  the  determined  resistance  of  the  enemy,  until  after 
six  P.M.,  when  we  were  in  possession  of  all  his  encampments 
between  Owl  and  Lick  Creeks  but  one;  nearly  all  his  field- 
artillery,  about  thirty  flags,  colors  and  standards,  over  three 
thousand  prisoners,  including  a  division  commander  (Gen 
eral  Prentiss),  and  several  brigade  commanders,  thousands 
of  small-arms,  an  immense  supply  of  subsistence,  forage,  and 
munitions  of  war,  and  a  large  amount  of  means  of  transpor 
tation, — all  the  substantial  fruits  of  a  complete  victory, — 
such,  indeed,  as  rarely  have  followed  the  most  successful 
battles,  for  never  was  an  army  so  well  provided  as  that  of 
our  enemy. 

"  The  remnant  of  his  army  had  been  driven  in  utter  dis 
order  to  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Pittsburg,  under  the 


THE   WAR    IN   THE   WEST  275 

shelter  of  the  heavy  guns  of  his  iron-clad  gunboats,  and  we 
remained  undisputed  masters  of  his  well-selected,  admirably 
provided  cantonments,  after  our  twelve  hours  of  obstinate 
conflict  with  his  forces,  who  had  been  beaten  from  them 
and  the  contiguous  covert,  but  only  by  the  sustained  onset 
of  all  the  men  we  could  bring  into  action." 


Note  that  the  Confederate  army  was  in  pos 
session  of  all  Grant's  encampments  between  Owl 
and  Lick  Creeks  but  one.  That  one  gave  a 
landing  for  Buell's  reinforcements,  which,  on  the 
following  day,  turned  the  victory.  In  the  even 
ing,  as  Bragg  was  about  to  head  a  final  charge, 
which  would  have  completely  swept  the  field,  he 
received  an  order  from  Beauregard  to  stop  the 
pursuit,  lest  the  men  be  exposed  to  the  gunboat 
firing.  Beauregard  thought  "  the  victory  was 
sufficiently  complete."  "  Is  a  victory  ever  suffi 
ciently  complete?"  angrily  exclaimed  Bragg. 
But  he  obeyed  the  order,  and  the  Confederate 
army  went  into  camp. 

Grant's  army  was  beaten.  If  the  Confederates 
had  pressed  on  and  gained  full  possession  of  the 
water-front,  and  thus  prevented  Buell's  landing, 
leaving  out  of  the  consideration  other  exigencies 
which  might  have  affected  the  final  result  of  the 
war,  and  looking  at  the  history  as  it  really  was, 
the  battle  of  Shiloh  would  in  all  probability  have 
given  the  victory  to  the  South.  Jefferson  Davis 
says  that  after  this,  "  Grant's  army  being  beaten, 
the  next  step  of  General  Johnston's  programme 
should  have  followed, — the  defeat  of  Jewell's  and 
Mitchell's  forces  as  they  successively  came  up, 


276  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

and  the  return  by  our  victorious  army  through 
Tennessee  and  Kentucky.  .  .  .  What  great  con 
sequences  would  have  ensued  must  be  matters  of 
conjecture ;  but  that  the  people  of  Kentucky  and 
Missouri  generously  sympathized  with  the  South 
was  then  commonly  admitted." 

On  the  following  morning  Grant  had  twenty- 
five  thousand  fresh  troops.  He  himself  com 
menced  the  attack.  The  Confederates  were 
dispirited  by  the  loss  of  Johnston.  Point  by 
point  they  were  driven  back,  until  at  the  close  of 
the  day  Beauregard  admitted  his  defeat  and 
turned  towards  Corinth.  Thus  ended  the  battle 
of  Shiloh — one  of  the  strongest,  most  indescriba 
ble,  and  unscientific  fights  of  the  whole  war. 
Grant  had  unnecessarily  exposed  his  men.  Gen 
eral  Buell  says : 

"  Of  the  army  of  not  less  than  fifty  thousand  effective  men, 
which  Grant  had  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Tennessee  River, 
not  more  than  five  thousand  were  in  ranks  and  available  on 
the  battle-field  at  nightfall  on  the  sixth,  exclusive  of  Lew 
Wallace's  division,  say  eight  thousand  five  hundred  men, 
that  only  came  up  during  the  night.  The  rest  were  either 
killed,  captured,  or  scattered  in  inextricable  and  hopeless 
confusion  for  miles  along  the  banks  of  the  river." 

The  slaughter  had  been  terrific.  Grant  had 
enemies  at  Washington, — men  who  were  bitterly 
opposed  to  him  through  jealousy  of  his  position; 
for  the  moving  spirit  in  the  North  was  not 
wholly  an  emulation  as  to  who  best  could  serve. 
There  was  a  large  element  of  greed  for  office. 
Great  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon  Lin- 


THE   WAR   IN   THE   WEST  277 

coin  to  have  him  removed.  But  the  President 
had  begun  to  feel  his  way  towards  the  men  in 
whom  he  could  place  reliance.  Probably  having 
McClellan  in  mind,  he  said,  "  I  can't  spare  this 
man;  he  fights." 

Halleck  went  to  Pittsburg  Landing  and  took 
command  there  April  n.  He  called  in  General 
Pope,  who  had  just  succeeded  in  capturing 
Island  Number  Ten,  a  strong  fortress  in  a  com 
manding  position  on  the  Mississippi.  Grant  was 
second  in  command;  but  as  this  gave  him  no 
division,  he  felt  that  he  was  being  shelved,  and 
had  it  not  been  for  the  influence  of  Sherman  he 
would  have  retired.  Halleck  marched  on  Cor 
inth,  which  Beauregard  vacated,  and  the  Union 
army  continued  almost  to  Chattanooga.  Here 
the  policy  of  caution  and  consequent  delay  again 
prevailed.  This  gave  Bragg  the  opportunity  to 
slip  past  the  left  flank  of  the  Union  army  and 
again  turn  northward.  He  made  for  Louisville, 
with  Buell  in  close  pursuit,  though  on  a  different 
line  of  march.  The  Union  general  arrived  first; 
but  instead  of  attacking  the  enemy,  he  waited  to 
organize,  and  Bragg,  having  nothing  further  to 
gain,  swept  the  country  for  the  means  of  sub 
sistence  and  started  back  southward  with  an  im 
mense  train  of  plunder. 

The  Civil  War  was  won  by  the  Union  navy. 
It  was  prolonged  by  the  Southern.  What  Grant 
and  Sherman  did  to  bring  the  struggle  to  a  suc 
cessful  issue  was  made  possible  by  the  opera 
tions  of  Farragut  and  Foote.  The  gunboats  on 


278  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

the  Mississippi  and  Cumberland  Rivers  rendered 
effective  access  by  the  Federal  forces  to  Forts 
Henry  and  Donelson.  The  former  river  remained 
barred  to  the  Union  until  Foote  broke  through 
from  the  North  and  Farragut  took  New  Orleans. 
The  blockade  of  the  Atlantic  ports,  by  prevent 
ing  the  Confederacy  from  recuperating  itself  by 
means  of  European  commerce,  made  possible 
that  sapping  of  its  strength  without  which  its  de 
feat  could  not  have  been  accomplished.  Sher 
man's  "  March  to  the  Sea"  was  a  deadly  blow, 
which  could  not  have  been  delivered  had  it  not 
been  that  there  was  a  friendly  fleet  off  the  At 
lantic  coast  to  which  he  could  look  for  support. 

The  Mississippi,  above  Vicksburg,  was  now 
in  possession  of  the  Union.  It  was  in  accordance 
with  the  general  plan  to  start  from  the  other  end 
also.  Said  Secretary  Stanton,  "  Why  can't  New 
Orleans  be  taken?"  "  It  can,"  laconically  replied 
General  Benjamin  Butler,  to  whom  the  question 
was  addressed.  A  fleet  of  war-vessels  was  de 
spatched  under  the  command  of  Farragut,  aided 
by  mortar-boats  under  David  B.  Porter. 

David  G.  Farragut  was  a  Southerner,  having 
been  born  in  Tennessee.  In  his  ninth  year  he 
entered  the  service  of  the  United  States  navy  as 
midshipman,  and  was  on  board  the  "  Essex"  in 
the  war  of  1812.  Thus  for  fifty  years  he  had 
sailed  and  fought  and  commanded  under  the 
Stars  and  Stripes.  It  is  no  wonder  then  that, 
though  bound  to  the  South  by  intimate  ties, — 
his  wife  was  a  Norfolk  lady, — he  could  not  en- 


THE    WAR    IN   THE   WEST  279 

tertain  the  thought  of  deserting  the  old  flag.  He 
was  in  Norfolk  when  the  war  broke  out.  Im 
portuned  by  his  friends  to  give  his  services  to 
the  Confederacy,  he  replied,  "  I  would  see  every 
man  of  you  damned  before  I  would  raise  my 
hand  against  that  flag."  Still  it  was  with  some 
hesitancy  that  the  authorities  intrusted  so  mo 
mentous  and  difficult  an  undertaking  as  the 
attack  on  New  Orleans  to  a  Southerner.  But 
there  was  no  other  man  so  well  fitted  for  the 
work. 

On  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  it 
was  found  that,  owing  to  the  shallow  water  at 
the  bar,  it  was  impossible  to  take  the  largest  ves 
sels  across;  thus  the  most  effective  part  of  Far- 
ragut's  fleet  was  rendered  useless.  The  defences 
of  New  Orleans  were  extremely  formidable. 
Ninety  miles  below  the  city  were  the  two  forts, 
St.  Philip  and  Jackson,  commanding  the  passage 
from  either  side.  Besides  these  the  Confeder 
ates  had  on  the  lower  river  a  fleet  of  gunboats 
and  ironclads,  the  principal  ones  being  the  iron 
clad  ram  "  Manassas" — a  most  formidable  craft, 
owing  to  her  almost  impenetrable  protection — 
and  the  "  Louisiana,"  which  was  not  quite  com 
pleted.  The  river  was  also  blocked  by  rafts  and 
chains  of  schooners. 

Farragut  began  his  attack  by  a  bombardment 
from  his  fleet  of  mortar-boats  on  April  18.  This 
was  kept  up  for  five  days  with  no  effect  on  the 
forts,  though  in  that  time  over  sixteen  hundred 
shells  had  been  fired  by  the  Union  mortar-boats. 


2 So  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

Farragut  determined  to  take  his  wooden  ships 
past  the  forts, — an  heroic  measure,  but  he  con 
sidered  that  it  was  the  first  thing  which  he  was 
sent  there  to  do.  At  two  o'clock  on  the  morn 
ing  of  April  24  the  mortar-boa'ts  under  David  B. 
Porter  opened  fire,  which  drew  a  furious  response 
from  the  forts.  To  the  accompaniment  of  this 
music  Farragut  started  his  procession  of  ships. 
As  soon  as  the  Confederates  surmised  the  pur 
pose  of  the  Union  fleet  huge  fires  were  lighted 
on  the  river  banks,  and  fire  rafts  of  pine-knots 
were  sent  down-stream.  These  lighted  up  the 
river,  so  that,  until  obscured  by  the  clouds  of 
smoke,  the  ships  were  in  plain  sight  of  the  forts. 
So  they  passed  up,  firing  at  and  receiving  the 
fire  of  the  forts  as  they  went.  Farragut's  flag 
ship,  the  "  Hartford,"  in  trying  to  escape  a  drift 
ing  fire-raft,  ran  aground.  Pacing  his  deck,  the 
commander  cried,  "  Don't  flinch  from  that  fire, 
boys !  There's  a  hotter  fire  for  those  who  don't 
do  their  duty."  It  was  a  terrific  scene,  of  which 
a  detailed  account  as  gathered  from  the  reports 
of  the  participating  officers  causes  one  to  wonder 
how  any  of  those  wooden  vessels  lived  through  it. 
But  after  much  damage  was  given  and  received, 
the  foremost  of  the  Union  ships  reached 
Chalmette  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The 
loss  in  this  river  engagement  was  thirty-seven 
killed  and  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  wounded 
on  the  Union  side,  and  certainly  not  less  among 
the  Confederates.  But  the  chief  gain  to  the  for 
mer  lay  in  the  fact  that  Farragut  had  forestalled 


THE   WAR   IN   THE   WEST  281 

such  increased  defences  as  would  have  perhaps 
rendered  the  attack  a  failure.  "  Had  they  suc 
ceeded,"  he  said,  "  in  getting  any  one  of  those 
on  the  Mississippi  finished  before  our  arrival,  it 
would  have  proved  a  most  formidable  adver 
sary."  Admiral  Porter  says  that  if  New  Orleans 
had  "  been  left  three  months  longer  to  perfect  its 
defences  and  its  works  of  offence,  our  wooden 
fleet  would  have  been  driven  North,  and  the  en 
tire  Southern  coast  would  have  been  sealed 
against  us.  The  blockade  would  have  been 
raised,  and  the  independence  of  the  South  recog 
nized  by  the  powers  of  Europe." 

The  city  being  unprotected  by  any  adequate 
troops,  its  capture  was  immediately  accom 
plished;  not,  however,  before  its  inhabitants  had 
performed  an  act  of  loyalty  to  the  Confederate 
cause  in  the  destruction  of  an  immense  quantity 
of  cotton,  which  they  burned  to  prevent  its  be 
coming  of  advantage  to  the  North.  On  May  i, 
1862,  General  Butler  entered  the  city  with  two 
thousand  five  hundred  troops.  He  was  not  wel 
comed.  Military  rule  was  established,  and  it  was 
such  a  rule  as  will  ever  be  remembered  to  the 
disgrace  of  the  man.  Butler's  regulations  can 
not  be  condoned  with  justice,  or  excused  by  any 
consideration  of  the  necessities  of  war.  It  is  true 
that  the  women  of  New  Orleans  had  no  love  for 
his  officers  or  his  men.  But  his  order  of  May  15, 
that  if  any  female  should  insult  in  any  manner 
a  Union  officer  or  soldier,  "  she  should  be  re 
garded  and  held  liable  to  be  treated  as  a  woman 


282  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

of  the  town  plying  her  vocation,"  warrants  Lord 
Palmerston's  denunciation  of  it  in  the  House  of 
Commons  as  infamous.  The  Saturday  Review 
said  of  the  proclamation,  "  The  bloodiest  sav 
ages  could  do  nothing  crueller;  the  most  loath 
some  Yahoo  of  fiction  could  do  nothing  filthier." 
Seward  did  well  in  bringing  about  the  recall  of 
Butler. 

Contrary  to  the  usual  custom  of  historians,  we 
will  continue  our  narrative  of  the  campaign  in 
the  West,  leaving  the  contemporary  Virginian 
war  for  a  future  chapter.  In  the  mean  time,  how 
ever,  it  is  pertinent  to  ask,  How  was  the  war 
affecting  the  status  of  those  on  whose  account  it 
was  being  fought?  It  had  been  believed  by  the 
abolitionists  that  immediately  on  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war  the  slaves  would  make  a  stampede 
for  freedom.  This,  however,  had  not  been  ful 
filled.  The  majority  of  the  slaves  had  no  con 
ception  of  what  the  war  was  about,  nor  did  they 
suspect  that  it  had  any  personal  interest  for 
them.  They  remained  faithfully  and  devotedly 
on  the  plantations  and  in  the  homes  while  their 
masters  were  fighting  against  those  who  would 
set  them  free.  Many  were  directly  employed  in 
services  pertaining  to  the  war,  such  as  body- 
servants  of  Southern  officers  and  laborers  at 
work  on  the  fortifications.  On  the  6th  of  August, 
1861,  Congress  had  passed  a  bill  freeing  such 
slaves  as  were  employed  for  insurrectionary  pur 
poses.  On  the  i6th  of  April,  1862,  another  bill 
was  passed  abolishing  slavery  in  the  District  of 


THE    WAR   IN   THE   WEST  283 

Columbia.  On  the  6th  of  March,  1862,  President 
Lincoln  sent  to  Congress  a  special  message,  in 
which  he  said : 

"  I  recommend  the  adoption  of  a  joint  resolution  by  your 
honorable  bodies  which  shall  be  substantially  as  follows : 

"Resolved,  That  the  United  States  ought  to  co-operate 
with  any  State  which  may  adopt  general  abolishment  of 
slavery ;  etc." 

This  Act  was  passed  on  the  2d  of  April.  But 
no  slave  State  claimed  the  advantage  conferred 
by  it;  they  could  not  see  that  for  slavery  the 
hour  of  doom  had  struck. 

Notwithstanding  the  strictures  to  which  Grant 
had  been  subjected  after  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  the 
people  saw  that  he  was  the  man  of  the  hour. 
So  great  was  the  dissatisfaction  with  his  super- 
sedure  that,  in  the  early  part  of  July,  Halleck 
was  called  to  Washington  to  take  the  chief  com 
mand  of  the  army,  thus  leaving  Grant  at  the  head 
of  the  Department  of  the  West.  But  the  prin 
cipal  burden  of  the  offensive  operations  in  that 
section  was  cast  upon  Buell,  who  was  depended 
upon  for  the  capture  of  Chattanooga,  the  prin 
cipal  strategic  position  of  the  West.  He  was 
outgeneralled,  however,  by  Bragg,  who  passed 
to  his  rear,  thus  cutting  off  Buell's  line  of  com 
munication  between  Nashville  and  Louisville, 
compelling  him  to  retreat  to  the  latter  place. 
Washington  became  impatient.  Halleck  said : 

"  The  President  and  Secretary  of  War  are  greatly  dis 
pleased  with  the  slow  movements  of  General  Buell.  Unless 
he  does  something  very  soon,  I  think  he  will  be  removed. 


284  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

Indeed,  it  would  have  been  done  before  if  I  had  not  begged 
to  give  him  a  little  more  time.  There  must  be  more  energy 
and  activity  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and  the  one  who 
first  does  something  brilliant  will  get  the  entire  command. 
.  .  .  The  government  seems  determined  to  apply  the  guillo 
tine  to  all  unsuccessful  generals." 

Buell  was  not  able  to  accomplish  anything 
brilliant.  He  was  defeated  at  Perryville,  Octo 
ber  8,  and  was  immediately  thereupon  super 
seded  by  General  Rosecrans.  This  change  was 
brought  about  through  the  influence  of  Oliver  P. 
Morton,  governor  of  Indiana,  who  had  a  private 
grudge  against  Buell.  The  latter  seems  to  have 
been  an  able  general,  and  would  have  done  better 
probably  had  he  not  been  hampered  by  the  ad 
ministration.  But  he  had  a  faculty  for  making 
enemies  of  those  who  were  on  his  own  side.  Lin 
coln  realized  the  necessity  of  retaining  popular 
support ;  and  for  it  he  was  willing  to  see  his  gen 
erals  officially  beheaded. 

Bragg  went  into  winter  quarters  at  Murfrees- 
borough,  Tennessee.  On  the  26th  of  December 
Rosecrans  moved  to  attack  him.  The  san 
guinary  battle  of  Stone  River  followed  on  Janu 
ary  i,  1863.  There  was  a  series  of  engagements 
around  Murfreesborough.  The  historians  of 
both  sides  claim  the  victory.  General  Bragg, 
hearing  that  reinforcements  were  on  the  way  to 
Rosecrans,  fell  back  on  Tullahoma,  carrying  with 
him,  it  is  claimed  by  the  Southern  historians,  six 
thousand  prisoners  and  thirty  pieces  of  captured 
artillery.  Nevertheless,  the  President  tele 
graphed  to  Rosecrans,  "  God  bless  you."  The 


THE   WAR    IN   THE   WEST  285 

North  at  this  period  needed  to  make  the  most  of 
her  victories. 

Grant  was  now  attempting  to  clear  the  Mis 
sissippi.  The  only  remaining  obstacle  was  Vicks- 
burg.  In  January,  1863,  Grant  undertook  the 
expedition  against  this  point.  The  main  diffi 
culty  in  the  attack  was  to  get  possession  of  the 
high  ground  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  so  that 
the  city  might  be  besieged  from  the  rear.  In 
order  that  he  might  get  his  transports  past 
Vicksburg  without  exposing  them  to  the  bat 
teries  of  the  defence,  he  labored  to  construct  a 
canal  across  the  peninsula  opposite  the  city. 
This,  however,  was  beyond  the  skill  of  his  engi 
neers.  Two  months  were  spent  in  ineffective 
operations,  while  sickness  resulting  from  the  cli 
mate  made  great  havoc  among  his  men.  The 
North  became  impatient.  Stories  were  circu 
lated  accusing  Grant  of  indulging  at  this  time 
in  gross  intemperance,  and  these  were  believed 
by  Halleck.  When  this  charge  was  repeated  to 
Lincoln,  he  replied,  "  If  I  knew  what  brand  of 
whiskey  he  drinks,  I  would  send  a  barrel  or  so  to 
some  other  generals."  The  fact  is  that  at  this 
time  Grant  was  not  drinking  at  all.  Much  of 
the  dissatisfaction  with  Grant  resulted  from  the 
treachery  of  McClernand,  one  of  his  corps  com 
manders,  who  was  actuated  by  jealousy.  But 
Grant  had  the  full  confidence  of  Lincoln,  who 
caused  a  despatch  to  be  sent  to  him  giving  him 
"  full  and  absolute  authority  to  enforce  his  own 
commands." 


286  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

By  April  16  Grant  was  ready  to  act  on  his 
characteristic  policy  of  going  "  forward  to  a  de 
cisive  victory."  He  determined  on  a  complete 
investiture  of  Vicksburg.  Admiral  Porter  was 
in  command  of  the  gunboats,  and  was  ready  to 
co-operate  heartily  in  Grant's  plan.  It  was  neces 
sary  to  move  the  transports  carrying  supplies  to 
a  point  below  the  cities.  This  could  be  done  only 
by  running  past  the  batteries.  During  the  night 
of  April  1 6  this  project  was  successfully  carried 
out.  Six  steamers  towing  twelve  barges  started 
in  the  darkness  to  run  the  gauntlet.  But  the 
river  was  soon  illuminated  by  the  burning  houses 
which  the  Confederates  set  on  fire  for  that  pur 
pose.  The  batteries  opened  fire  with  shot  and 
shell,  which  was  heartily  responded  to  by  the 
seven  ironclad  gunboats.  All  the  vessels  suc 
ceeded  in  getting  past  with  the  exception  of  the 
"  Henry  Clay,"  which  was  set  on  fire  by  the 
bursting  of  a  shell  and  was  burned  to  the  water's 
edge. 

Vicksburg  was  under  the  command  of  General 
Pemberton,  who  had  with  him  about  thirty-one 
thousand  troops.  Grant's  force,  including  Sher 
man's  corps,  was  ultimately  about  seventy-five 
thousand.  Joe  Johnston,  however,  was  at  Jack 
son  with  some  eleven  thousand  Confederates. 
Grant  turned,  met  Johnston,  and  forced  him  to 
retreat.  On  the  i6th  of  May  Pemberton  was 
defeated  at  Champion's  Hill,  about  midway  be 
tween  Vicksburg  and  Jackson.  On  the  I7th  he 
was  engaged  at  Big  Black  River  and  again 


THE    WAR   IN   THE   WEST  287 

beaten.  He  then  retired  within  the  defences  at 
Vicksburg.  These  operations  gave  Grant  his 
long-sought  opportunity  to  reach  the  heights  on 
the  north  overlooking  Vicksburg.  On  the  22d 
of  May  he  made  an  effort  to  take  the  city  by 
assault,  but  failed,  suffering  a  loss  of  over  three 
thousand.  It  was  evident  that  Vicksburg  could 
be  reduced  only  by  regular  siege. 

The  inhabitants  were  now  subjected  to  the 
horrible  experiences  of  continual  bombardment 
and  starvation.  Caves  were  dug  in  the  ground 
for  the  protection  of  the  women  and  children; 
rats  were  sold  in  the  butchers'  stores.  The  siege 
continued  until  the  end  of  June.  By  that  time 
Pemberton's  troops  were  ready  for  mutiny. 
They  said,  "  If  you  can't  feed  us,  you  had 
better  surrender  us,  horrible  as  the  idea  is, 
than  suffer  this  noble,  army  to  disgrace  them 
selves  by  desertion." 

On  the  4th  of  July  Grant  telegraphed :  "  The 
enemy  surrendered  this  morning.  The  only 
terms  allowed  is  their  parole  as  prisoners  of 
war."  The  number  of  prisoners  was  over  thirty 
thousand.  One  hundred  and  seventy-two  cannon 
were  captured,  and  upward  of  fifty  thousand  mus 
kets,  which  were  a  welcome  addition  to  the 
Northern  armament,  as  they  were  of  the  im 
proved  pattern  and  made  in  Europe. 

Lincoln  could  how  say,  "  The  Father  of  Waters 
again  goes  unvexed  to  the  sea."  The  joy  of  the 
North  at  this  victory  was  intense,  and  she  was 
ready  to  reward  the  man  by  whose  genius  and 


288  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

determination  it  was  won.  Grant's  enemies  were 
silenced.  Even  Halleck  was  convinced  of  his 
ability;  and  immediately  the  commission  of  a 
major-general  in  the  regular  army  was  conferred 
upon  him. 

Pollard,  arguing  on  his  belief  that  the  destitu 
tion  of  the  army  and  inhabitants  of  Vicksburg 
was  not  so  great  as  Pemberton  described,  says  : 

"  There  appears,  then,  to  have  been  no  immediate  occasion 
for  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg  other  than  Pemberton's 
desire  '  to  save  the  further  effusion  of  blood.'  The  explana 
tion  of  his  motives  for  selecting  the  Fourth  of  July  as  the 
day  of  surrender  implies  a  singular  humiliation  of  the  Con 
federacy,  as  he  was  willing  to  give  this  dramatic  gratifica 
tion  to  the  vanity  of  the  enemy  in  the  hope  of  thus  con 
ciliating  the  ambition  of  Grant  and  soliciting  the  generosity 
of  the  Yankees.  He  says,  '  If  it  should  be  asked  why  the 
Fourth  of  July  was  selected  as  the  day  for  the  surrender, 
the  answer  is  obvious :  I  believed  that  upon  that  day  I 
should  obtain  better  terms.  Well  aware  of  the  vanity  of  our 
foes,  I  knew  they  would  attach  vast  importance  to  the 
entrance,  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  into  the  stronghold  of  the 
great  river,  and  that,  to  gratify  their  national  vanity,  they 
would  yield  then  what  could  not  be  extorted  from  them  at 
any  other  time.'  Such  an  incident  of  humiliation  was  alone 
wanting  to  complete  the  disaster  and  shame  of  Vicksburg." 

Success  had  also  attended  the  Northern  arms 
to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi,  in  Missouri  and 
Arkansas.  General  Price,  the  Confederate 
leader,  was  at  Springfield  in  January,  1862.  He 
was  intrenched  with  ten  thousand  men,  but  when 
General  S.  R.  Curtis  moved  against  him  from 
Rolla  with  an  army  of  twelve  thousand,  Price 
abandoned  his  works  and  retreated  into  Arkan 
sas.  He  was  there  reinforced,  and  Curtis  in  turn 


THE   WAR    IN   THE   WEST  289 

concluded  that  his  own  safe  course  was  to  retire 
to  the  Ozark  hills.  On  the  ?th  of  March  the  Con 
federates  were  endeavoring  to  cut  the  Union 
connection  with  Springfield.  Curtis  occupied  a 
position  on  the  ridge  between  Sugar  Creek  Val 
ley  and  Cross  Timber  Hollows.  Here  was  fought 
what  is  known  as  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge.  The 
result  of  the  first  day's  fighting  was  that  the  Con 
federates  succeeded  in  getting  between  the 
Union  army  and  Springfield;  consequently  Cur 
tis  was  compelled  to  cut  his  way  out  or  accept 
the  only  alternative, — surrender  his  army.  On 
the  8th,  by  a  gallant  movement  in  which  he  suc 
ceeded  in  planting  his  guns  on  hills  from  which 
he  could  rake  the  Confederates  by  cross-firing, 
he  extricated  himself  from  his  perilous  position, 
won  a  decisive  victory,  and  prevented  the  fur 
ther  invasion  of  Missouri. 

The  battle  of  Pea  Ridge  had  an  extremely  un 
pleasant  feature  connected  with  it,  the  record  of 
which  is  a  blot  on  the  history  of  the  South.  One 
brigade  of  the  Confederate  force  consisted  of  In 
dians.  General  Curtis,  in  his  report,  declares 
that  they  tomahawked  and  scalped  his  men.  It 
was  clearly  an  employment  of  savages  and  meth 
ods  of  fighting  contrary  to  the  ethics  of  modern 
warfare.  The  only  plea — and  it  is  a  strong  one 
— with  which  the  South  can  answer  this  accusa 
tion  is  that  the  Indian  brigade  was  organized  and 
commanded  by  Albert  Pike,  a  Boston  man  and 
a  graduate  of  Harvard.  But  giving  that  fact  all 
due  consideration,  the  employment  of  these  In- 


290  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

dians  to  a  certain  degree  offsets  the  complaints 
which  the  South  made  against  the  arming  of  the 
negro  by  the  North.  In  fact,  both  expedients 
were  reprehensible,  looking  at  them  any  way  we 
will. 

After  the  battle  of  Stone  River  Rosecrans 
seemed  to  have  been  taking  a  leaf  out  of  McClel- 
lan's  book.  Six  months  were  spent  in  recupera 
tion  and  organizing.  His  only  success  was  of  an 
argumentative  character,  by  which  he  convinced 
the  authorities  at  Washington  of  the  desirability 
of  leaving  him  to  his  own  devices.  In  June,  how 
ever,  he  began  a  series  of  manoeuvres  by  which 
he  drew  Bragg  out  of  middle  Tennessee  and  shut 
him  up  in  Chattanooga.  There  he  hoped  to  re 
peat  Grant's  exploit  of  Vicksburg.  But  Bragg 
was  not  the  man  to  be  thus  handled;  he  suc 
ceeded  in  getting  out  and  moved  to  the  south 
ward.  Rosecrans,  in  pursuit,  so  extended  his  line 
that  Bragg,  who  was  now  reinforced,  saw  his 
opportunity  and  turned  to  strike.  This  was  on 
the  iQth  of  September.  On  the  following  day  was 
fought  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  the  bloodiest 
field  of  the  West,  and  a  disastrous  one  for  the 
Union.  The  left  division  of  the  Federal  army 
was  under  General  Thomas.  Rosecrans,  owing 
to  the  excessive  strain  to  which  he  had  been  sub 
jected  for  many  days  previous,  was  in  no  condi 
tion  to  command.  His  men  agree  that  he  was 
whipped  before  he  commenced  to  fight.  During 
the  day  a  mistake  was  made  in  withdrawing  a 
brigade  from  the  centre;  and  Bragg,  seeing  his 


*&*: 


/i**<^J> 


4* 


^S     Q~  & 

^-+^~9/  ,  {y&L*~~ 

*^^       -^ 


s  ^-v^ 

(7 

~^.  f/ts**s\^*.  s 

tZt^L.  ^""      --^^  * 


<?*«—* — -      *&£-     <z*.'~S(_ 


^&t£. 


^ 


/• 


LETTER    FROM    GENERAL   ULYSSES   S.   GRANT 


THE    WAR   IN   THE    WEST  291 

chance,  poured  in  his  troops,  and  thus  divided 
the  Union  army.  The  right,  under  the  command 
of  Rosecrans,  was  swept  from  the  field,  and  fled 
in  precipitation  to  Chattanooga,  whence  Charles 
A.  Dana,  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  tele 
graphed  to  Washington :  "  Chickamauga  is  as 
fatal  a  name  in  our  history  as  Bull  Run."  Gen 
eral  Thomas,  "  The  Rock  of  Chickamauga/'  how 
ever,  had  held  his  ground,  and  at  night  returned 
to  Chattanooga,  bringing  with  him  five  hundred 
prisoners. 

The  tables  were  now  turned.  Rosecrans  was 
in  Chattanooga,  and  Bragg  was  the  besieger. 
Hooker  was  sent  with  a  detachment  from  the 
army  of  the  Potomac;  Sherman  came  through 
from  the  Mississippi;  and  Grant,  who  had  gone 
to  New  Orleans,  came  up  to  take  the  command. 
This  last  move  was  essential,  as  Rosecrans  had 
entirely  lost  control.  Grant  replaced  Rosecrans 
by  Thomas,  putting  the  latter  in  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  telegraphing  him 
from  Louisville  to  hold  Chattanooga  under  all 
circumstances.  On  the  other  hand,  President 
Davis,  entirely  misapprehending  Bragg's  posi 
tion,  depleted  his  strength  by  ordering  fifteen 
thousand  of  his  men  to  Knoxville  to  engage 
Burnside. 

Chattanooga  is  surrounded  by  hills.  The  Con 
federates  lay  in  a  line  twelve  miles  long  between 
Missionary  Ridge  and  Lookout  Mountain. 
Grant's  plan  was  for  Hooker  to  attack  the  latter 
and  Sherman  the  former,  believing  that  this 


292  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

would  cause  Bragg  to  weaken  his  centre  to  help 
these  points,  whereupon  he  himself  would  strike 
the  Confederate  centre  with  his  main  army.  The 
plan  succeeded  even  beyond  his  anticipations, 
owing  to  the  dash  and  spirit  shown  by  the  men 
who  assaulted  the  hills.  Sherman  gained  the 
Ridge  on  the  23d;  Hooker  won  the  battle  of 
Lookout  Mountain  on  the  24th.  The  storming 
of  Missionary  Ridge  was  one  of  the  most  bril 
liant  charges  made  during  the  whole  war.  An 
account  of  it  is  best  given  in  the  words  of  Dana, 
who  was  an  eye-witness : 

"  The  storming  of  the  ridge  by  our  troops  was  one  of  the 
greatest  miracles  in  military  history.  No  man  who  climbs 
the  ascent  by  any  of  the  roads  that  wind  along  its  front  can 
believe  that  eighteen  thousand  men  were  moved  up  its 
broken  and  crumbling  face  unless  it  was  his  fortune  to 
witness  the  deed.  It  seems  as  awful  as  a  visible  interposition 
of  God.  Neither  Grant  nor  Thomas  intended  it.  Their 
orders  were  to  carry  the  rifle-pits  along  the  base  of  the 
ridge,  and  capture  their  occupants ;  but  when  this  was  ac 
complished  the  unaccountable  spirit  of  the  troops  bore  them 
bodily  up  those  impracticable  steeps,  over  the  bristling  rifle- 
pits  on  the  crest,  and  the  thirty  cannon  enfilading  every 
gully.  The  order  to  storm  seems  to  have  been  given  simul 
taneously  by  Generals  Sheridan  and  Wood,  because  the  men 
were  not  to  be  held  back,  dangerous  as  the  attempt  appeared 
to  military  prudence.  Besides,  the  generals  had  caught  the 
inspiration  of  the  men,  and  were  ready  themselves  to  under 
take  impossibilities." 

After  successes  like  these,  Grant's  work  on 
the  third  day  was  easy.  A  terrible  enfilading  fire 
to  the  right  and  left  soon  threw  the  Confederates 
into  a  panic.  They  had  inflicted  great  slaughter 
on  the  Federal  army;  but  these  points  of  van- 


THE   WAR   IN   THE   WEST  293 

tage  being  gained,  Bragg  had  nothing  to  do  but 
retreat.  Sherman  immediately  went  to  the  relief 
of  Burnside,  who  was  besieged  by  Longstreet's 
corps  at  Knoxville.  The  raising  of  this  siege  and 
the  victory  of  Chattanooga  put  eastern  Tennes 
see  in  the  power  of  the  Union,  and  opened  the 
way  to  Alabama,  Georgia,  and  the  Carolinas. 


XII 

THE    WAR    IN    VIRGINIA 

AFTER  the  battle  of  Bull  Run  the  Confederates 
moved  their  outposts  from  Centreville,  Virginia, 
almost  to  the  banks  of  the  Potomac.  Thus  their 
flag  was  in  plain  view  from  Washington.  They 
erected  batteries  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the 
river,  and  thus  effectually  blockaded  the  water- 
communication  of  the  Federal  capital.  In  view 
of  this  state  of  things,  it  is  a  marvel  beyond  com 
prehension  that  the  North  should  have  endured 
McQellan's  inactivity  for  so  long  a  time.  The 
patience  of  the  President  and  the  people,  how 
ever,  had  a  limit.  McClellan  writes  :  "  About  the 
middle  of  January,  1862,  upon  recovering  from  a 
severe  illness,  I  found  that  excessive  anxiety  for 
an  immediate  movement  of  the  Army  of  the  Po 
tomac  had  taken  possession  of  the  minds  of  the 
administration."  As  we  have  seen,  Lincoln  or 
dered  a  general  movement  of  all  the  armies  to  be 
made  on  the  22d  of  February,  1862.  His  plan 
for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  that  it  should 
move  upon  Manassas.  McClellan  had  a  plan  of 
his  own,  which  for  a  long  time  he  was  very  un 
willing  to  divulge.  In  brief,  it  was  to  change 
his  base  of  operations  to  the  lower  Chesapeake, 
and  thence  to  threaten  Richmond.  It  was  with 

difficulty  that  Lincoln  could  be  brought  to  agree 
294 


THE   WAR   IN   VIRGINIA  295 

to  this.  He  saw  that  it  was  more  important 
for  the  Federal  army  to  protect  Washington 
than  it  was  for  that  of  the  Confederate  govern 
ment  to  protect  their  capital.  Nevertheless,  at 
this  time  he  either  had  not  lost  confidence  in  Mc- 
Clellan,  or  he  did  not  feel  strong  enough  to  re 
move  him.  But  it  was  necessary  that  the  grand 
army  of  the  Potomac  should  be  put  to  some 
active  use.  Lincoln  gave  permission  for  the 
adoption  of  McClellan's  plan. 

That  Lincoln's  view  was  the  true  one  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  on  the  /th  of  March,  1862,  Gen 
eral  Joseph  E.  Johnston  began  to  retreat  from 
Manassas,  destroying  a  great  quantity  of  stores 
which  the  Confederate  government  had  improvi- 
dently  accumulated  at  his  head-quarters.  When 
the  Union  army  occupied  this  position  they 
found  that  the  strength  which  McClellan  had 
feared  was  nothing  but  a  shadow.  Not  only  was 
Johnston  much  weaker  than  McClellan  had  be 
lieved,  but,  being  short  of  artillery,  he  had 
"  made  rough  imitations  of  guns,"  and  mounted 
them  "  near  the  embrasures  in  readiness  for  ex 
hibition."  As  Hawthorne  said,  "  It  was  as  if 
General  McClellan  had  thrust  his  sword  into  a 
gigantic  enemy,  and,  beholding  him  suddenly 
collapse,  had  discovered  to  himself  and  the  world 
that  he  had  merely  punctured  an  enormously 
swollen  bladder.  .  .  .  The  whole  business  takes 
on  a  tinge  of  the  ludicrous.  The  vast  prepara 
tion  of  men  and  warlike  material;  the  majestic 
patience  and  docility  with  which  the  people 


296  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

waited  through  those  weary  and  dreary  months; 
the  martial  skill,  courage,  and  caution  with 
which  our  movement  was  ultimately  made ;  and, 
at  last,  the  tremendous  shock  with  which  we  were 
brought  up  suddenly  against  nothing  at  all !  The 
Southerners  show  little  sense  of  humor  now 
adays,  but  I  think  they  must  have  meant  to  pro 
voke  a  laugh  at  our  expense  when  they  planted 
those  Quaker  guns.  At  all  events,  no  other  rebel 
artillery  has  played  upon  us  with  such  over 
whelming  effect."  It  speaks  as  unfavorably  of 
the  Federal  Secret  Service  as  it  does  of  the  ca 
pacity  of  McClellan.  If  the  latter  had  obeyed 
the  President's  order  and  had  engaged  the  Con 
federate  army  at  Manassas  on  February  22,  he 
must  have  gained  an  easy  victory  and  an  almost 
unimpeded  march  to  Richmond.  The  only  con 
clusion  to  which  one  is  forced  is  that  McClellan 
did  not  wish  to  fight.  He  was  either  a  coward 
or  disloyal;  that  he  was  the  former  cannot  be 
established. 

He  was  compelled  to  move  at  last,  however; 
and  his  own  plan  was  accepted  as  the  most  feasi 
ble, — namely,  to  take  Fort  Monroe  as  a  base,  and 
move  upon  Richmond  up  the  Peninsula  formed 
by  the  James  and  York  Rivers.  This  plan,  at 
that  time,  was  well  devised.  But  it  was  carried 
out  neither  with  promptness  nor  with  ability. 
McClellan,  instead  of  piercing  the  Confederate 
line,  as  he  might  have  done,  sat  down  to  a  scien 
tific  siege  of  Yorktown.  This  delay  gave  the 
Confederates  the  opportunity  to  increase  their 


.  K,    v    A^v«   0  **/v/  Zfcz 


LETTER    FROM    GENERAL    ROBERT    E.    LEE    TO   GENERAL 
JAMES    LONGSTREET 


«H^ 


THE   WAR   IN   VIRGINIA  297 

army,  by  warrant  of  a  conscription  law  which  had 
just  been  passed,  though  in  the  face  of  bitter 
resistance,  which  not  seldom  resulted  in  men 
being  dragged  to  war  in  chains.  Extensive  re 
organization  was  accomplished  and  energetic 
preparations  were  made  for  the  defence  of  Rich 
mond.  The  Southern  force  at  Yorktown  was 
under  the  command  of  Magruder.  He  had  under 
him  less  than  twelve  thousand  men,  yet  with 
them  he  managed  to  hold  McClellan  at  bay  for  a 
month, — long  enough  to  enable  the  Confederates 
to  concentrate  before  Richmond,  under  the  gen 
eral  command  of  Joseph  E.  Johnston. 

The  latter  had  left  a  strong  force  at  Williams- 
burg,  in  the  centre  of  the  Peninsula,  to  guard 
his  baggage-train.  On  the  5th  of  May  this  was 
engaged  by  the  Federal  advance  under  Hooker, 
and  a  sharp  battle  of  nine  hours  ensued.  The 
North  claimed  a  victory.  But  inasmuch  as  the 
enemy  fought  for  no  other  purpose  than  that  of 
giving  their  baggage-train  time  to  get  away,  and 
as  that  was  accomplished,  the  claim  does  not 
seem  to  be  well  founded.  Johnston  says  he  was 
not  pursued,  and  that  he  inflicted  a  loss  twice  as 
great  as  that  he  suffered. 

But  matters  looked  serious  for  Richmond.  Its 
people  were  not  so  greatly  worried  over  the  ap 
proach  of  McClellan,  for  they  had  long  ere  this 
learned  to  despise  his  generalship;  but  the 
"  Monitor,"  after  her  successful  encounter  with 
the  "  Merrimac"  had  opened  to  the  Federal  fleet 
the  James  River.  On  May  15  the  "  Monitor," 


298  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

with  several  gunboats,  ascended  the  river  to 
Drewry's  Bluff,  eight  miles  below  Richmond. 
This  threw  the  city,  and  especially  the  Con 
federate  executive,  into  a  panic.  Congress  ad 
journed,  in  spite  of  the  appeal  of  the  people 
that  they  should  continue  their  session.  The 
city  was  almost  entirely  unfortified,  the  authori 
ties  having  failed  even  to  protect  the  approach 
by  the  river,  there  being  on  it  no  obstacle  to  the 
enemy  except  the  half-finished  fort  at  Drewry's 
Bluff,  on  which  there  were  but  four  guns  in  posi 
tion. 

But  the  feeling  at  Richmond  was  not  unani 
mous.  While  many  of  the  inhabitants  were 
evincing  signs  of  pusillanimity,  and  showed  dis 
loyalty  to  their  government,  congratulating 
themselves  that  they  were  not  so  committed  as 
to  incur  the  enemy's  resentment;  and  while  the 
effects  of  the  government  were  already  packed 
ready  for  shipment  to  Columbia,  South  Caro 
lina,  the  majority  were  determined  on  resistance 
to  the  very  uttermost;  the  Legislature  of  Vir 
ginia  passed  resolutions  imploring  the  Confed 
erate  authorities  to  hold  Richmond  at  the  cost 
of  its  destruction  rather  than  to  surrender.  They 
desired  that  "  the  President  be  assured  that 
whatever  destruction  or  loss  of  property  of  the 
State  or  individuals  shall  thereby  result  will  be 
cheerfully  submitted  to."  This  encouraged  the 
administration.  Every  effort  was  now  made  to 
block  the  water  approach.  The  works  at 
Drewry's  Bluff  were  finished  and  armed.  The 


THE   WAR   IN   VIRGINIA  299 

river  was  filled  with  sunken  obstructions ;  and  just 
as  these  latter  were  completed  by  the  sinking 
of  a  schooner  the  Federal  gunboats  "  Galena" 
and  "  Aristook,"  with  the  "  Monitor,"  appeared. 
When  the  first  sounds  of  the  bombardment  were 
heard,  a  public  meeting  was  being  held  at  the 
City  Hall.  The  occasion  was  improved  by  the 
delivery  of  impromptu  and  enthusiastic  addresses 
from  the  governor  of  Virginia  and  the  mayor  of 
Richmond.  They  pledged  their  word  that  rather 
than  surrender  the  city  they  would  devote  it 
to  the  flames,  and  in  this  they  were  upheld 
by  the  citizens  whose  homes  and  property  were 
at  stake.  Governor  Letcher  declared  that  if 
he  were  given  the  alternative  to  be  shelled  or 
surrender,  he  should  reply,  "  Bombard  and  be 
damned." 

During  the  day  of  the  I5th  an  artillery  duel 
went  on  between  the  Federal  gunboats  and  the 
fort,  with  the  result  that  the  former  were  beaten 
off.  Seventeen  shots  struck  the  "  Galena,"  kill 
ing  and  wounding  thirty  of  her  crew.  On  an 
other  boat  seventeen  were  killed.  The  fleet  was 
convinced  of  the  impracticability  of  taking  Rich 
mond  by  the  river. 

During  this  time  McClellan  was  doing  nothing 
but  planning,  teasing  the  administration  at 
Washington  for  reinforcements,  and  writing  to 
his  wife  of  successes  which  had  no  existence  ex 
cept  in  his  own  mind.  "  I  think,"  he  said  in  one 
letter,  "  that  the  blows  the  rebels  are  now  re 
ceiving  and  have  lately  received  ought  to  break 


300  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

them  up."  In  the  mean  time  Lincoln  was  urging 
him  to  take  Richmond,  "  or  give  up  the  job." 

The  Federal  forces  were  dotted  about  in  the 
Shenandoah  Valley  and  in  western  Virginia, 
without  any  pretence  of  concentration  either  as 
to  plan  or  command.  In  this  Stonewall  Jack 
son  saw  his  opportunity.  By  an  expedition  into 
the  Shenandoah  Valley,  thus  threatening  Wash 
ington,  he  might  give  the  Federal  government 
something  to  think  about  besides  the  capture  of 
Richmond.  Leaving  Ewell  at  Swift  Run  Gap  to 
hold  in  check  General  Banks,  who  had  an  army 
in  the  valley,  he  made  a  rapid  and  circuitous 
march  (picking  up  reinforcements  by  the  way) 
to  McDowell,  where  Milroy  was  in  command  of 
the  Federals.  On  May  8  Jackson  sent  this  de 
spatch  to  Richmond :  "  God  blessed  our  arms 
with  victory  at  McDowell  yesterday."  He  now 
went  after  Banks,  and  found  him  at  Winchester 
on  May  25.  Owing  to  egregious  mistakes  on 
the  part  of  the  War  Department  at  Washington, 
Banks  had  not  been  reinforced,  nor  had  there 
been  any  concentration  of  the  armies  that  might 
have  assisted  him.  He  was  defeated  by  Jackson 
at  Winchester  on  May  25,  and,  had  not  the  Po 
tomac  River  and  means  of  crossing  it  been  at 
hand,  Banks's  whole  command  would  have  been 
destroyed. 

McClellan  wrote  to  his  wife  at  this  time :  "  I 
have  this  moment  received  a  despatch  from  the 
President,  who  is  terribly  scared  about  Wash 
ington,  and  talks  about  the  necessity  of  my  re- 


THE   WAR   IN   VIRGINIA  301 

turning  in  order  to  save  it.  Heaven  save  a  coun 
try  governed  by  such  counsels !  Banks  has  been 
soundly  thrashed,  and  they  are  terribly  alarmed 
in  Washington.  A  scare  will  do  them  good  and 
may  bring  them  to  their  senses."  Was  there 
ever  such  fatuitous  egotism ! 

Washington  was  scared.  The  administration 
saw  visions  of  Stonewall  Jackson  swooping  down 
with  an  immense  force.  Stanton  was  panic- 
stricken,  —  a  condition  of  mind  into  which  he 
was  always  easily  thrown.  On  hearing  news  of 
the  "  Merrimac's"  exploits  in  Hampton  Roads, 
he  looked  out  of  the  windows  expecting  to  be 
hold  the  monster  already  threatening  Washing 
ton.  On  the  present  occasion  he  telegraphed  to 
the  governors  of  the  Northern  States  to  imme 
diately  organize  and  forward  all  the  militia  and 
volunteer  force  at  their  command.  McDowell's 
regiments,  which  were  on  their  way  to  reinforce 
McClellan,  were  recalled.  Had  it  not  been  for 
Jackson's  brilliant  campaign,  the  Federal  army 
before  Richmond  would  have  been  strengthened 
by  forty  thousand  men.  With  a  force  of  seven 
teen  thousand  he  confused  and  deluded  sixty 
thousand  Union  troops,  gave  Washington  the 
greatest  alarm  it  ever  suffered,  won  several  bat 
tles,  prevented  the  capture  of  Richmond,  and  re 
turned  with  a  great  quantity  of  spoil  and  a  large 
number  of  prisoners. 

Very  slowly  McClellan  advanced,  though  he 
encountered  no  opposition  worth  speaking  of, 
until,  on  the  3Oth  of  May,  he  was  at  Fair  Oaks, 


3o2  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

about  eight  miles  from  Richmond.  The  object 
of  Northern  desire  was  then  almost  within  his 
grasp.  It  now  seemed  reasonable  for  the  ad 
ministration  to  expect  that  something  would 
happen.  Lincoln  had  in  many  despatches  ex 
pressed  an  "  excessive  anxiety"  to  hear  of  some 
cheering  victory.  The  general  had  hitherto  had 
nothing  to  say  except  to  make  demands  for  more 
troops  and  excuse  his  delay  by  the  muddiness  of 
the  roads.  Lincoln  was  provoked  to  say,  "  Mc- 
Clellan  seemed  to  think,  in  defiance  of  Scripture, 
that  Heaven  sent  its  rain  only  on  the  just  and  not 
on  the  unjust." 

In  the  mean  time  Johnston  had  forced  McClel- 
lan  to  activity.  On  the  3ist  of  May,  owing  to 
the  flooded  condition  of  the  rivers,  the  Union 
army  lay  divided  into  two  parts.  Seizing  the 
opportunity  afforded  by  this  temporary  weakness 
of  position,  Johnston  made  an  attack  on  General 
Casey,  who  was  in  command  of  the  troops  on  the 
Richmond  side  of  the  Chickahominy.  This  was 
the  battle  of  Fair  Oaks  or  Seven  Pines.  Until 
five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  advantage  was 
decidedly  with  the  Confederates,  though  Kearney 
saved  the  Union  troops  from  an  utter  rout;  but 
at  that  time  Sumner  crossed  the  river  on  log 
bridges  at  the  head  of  two  divisions,  and  after 
being  thus  strengthened,  the  Federals  turned 
defeat  into  victory,  though  it  was  far  from  a  de 
cisive  one.  The  principal  mishap  to  the  Con 
federates  was  the  disabling  of  Johnston,  who  was 
struck  by  a  piece  of  bursting  shell  and  borne  un- 


THE   WAR   IN   VIRGINIA  303 

conscious  from  the  field.  McClellan  was  not  on 
the  scene  of  battle  during  the  whole  day;  he 
remained  at  his  head-quarters  under  the  excuse 
of  illness.  His  indisposition  was  not  such  as 
would  have  deterred  a  spirited  commander. 

Lee  was  now  in  personal  command  of  the  Con 
federate  army,  taking  charge  at  the  end  of  the 
second  day  of  fighting.  McClellan  was  still  ask 
ing  for  reinforcements,  and  in  response  General 
McCall  was  sent  to  him.  He  had  at  this  time 
one  hundred  and  five  thousand  troops  to  Lee's 
sixty-four  thousand.  But  all  discouragement 
had  vanished  from  the  minds  of  the  Confeder 
ates.  They  now  knew  their  enemy,  and  Jeffer 
son  Davis  wrote :  "  With  God's  help  we  will  beat 
him  as  soon  as  we  can  get  at  him."  Several 
minor  engagements,  with  varying  results,  led  to 
the  battle  of  Gaines  Mill,  which  was  fought  on 
June  27.  McClellan  was  in  the  process  of 
changing  his  base  from  the  York  to  the  James 
River.  While  making  this  move,  Lee  attacked 
his  right  at  Mechanicsville,  to  the  north  of  Rich 
mond.  This  was  on  June  26.  The  Confederates 
were  repulsed  with  considerable  loss.  General 
Porter,  who  was  in  command  of  this  division, 
was  ordered  by  McClellan  to  fall  back  on  Gaines 
Mill  near  the  bridge  across  the  Chickahominy, 
which  it  was  necessary  to  protect,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  Jackson  was  threatening  from  the 
north.  On  the  next  day  Porter  sent  to  request 
reinforcements,  but  his  messenger  failed  to 
reach  McClellan.  The  Federal  troops  numbered 


3o4  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

twenty-five  thousand  men;  against  them  were 
combined  Longstreet,  Jackson,  and  the  two 
Hills,  with  more  than  twice  that  strength.  While 
these  two  armies  were  engaged,  Magruder,  with 
twenty-five  thousand  men,  occupied  a  position 
between  the  Union  left  wing  and  Richmond. 
This  was  a  magnificent  opportunity  for  McClel- 
lan,  who,  with  an  unengaged  force  nearly  double 
that  of  Magruder,  might  easily  have  overpow 
ered  him  and  cleared  the  way  to  Richmond ;  but 
his  habit  of  magnifying  the  strength  of  his  oppo 
nents  prevented  him.  Porter  held  his  position 
with  great  courage  and  discipline;  but  towards 
night  a  general  assault  from  the  combined  forces 
of  Lee  and  Jackson  overwhelmed  the  Federals, 
driving  them  to  the  river,  where  there  would 
have  been  a  panic  had  it  not  been  for  timely  help 
which  served  only  to  cover  Porter's  retreat.  Mc- 
Clellan  despatched  the  news  to  Washington  in 
the  following  words : 

"  I  have  lost  this  battle  because  my  force  was  too  small. 
...  I  feel  too  earnestly  to-night.  I  have  seen  too  many 
dead  and  wounded  comrades  to  feel  otherwise  than  that  the 
government  has  not  sustained  this  army.  If  you  do  not  do 
so  now,  the  game  is  lost.  If  I  save  this  army  now,  I  tell 
you  plainly  that  I  owe  no  thanks  to  you  or  to  any  other 
persons  in  Washington.  You  have  done  your  best  to  sacri 
fice  this  army," 

From  now  on  the  story  of  McClelland  Penin 
sular  campaign  is  that  of  a  retreat.  There  was 
fighting  continuously  for  seven  days,  from  June 
25  to  July  i.  Lee  saw  that  McClellan's  plan  was 


THE   WAR   IN   VIRGINIA  305 

to  get  back  to  the  James  River,  whence  his 
retreat  down  the  Peninsula  might  be  covered  by 
Federal  gunboats.  He  sent  Magruder  around 
by  a  line  of  march  which  struck  the  Federal  rear ; 
Hill  and  Longstreet  also  attacked  them  at  Fray- 
ser's  Farm ;  but  owing  to  the  splendid  discipline 
of  the  Union  army  these  assaults  were  ineffec 
tive.  It  was  this  discipline,  that  Lee  did  not  ac 
curately  estimate,  which  led  to  his  defeat  in  the 
general  attack  at  Malvern  Hill  on  July  i.  The 
plan  of  this  attack  was  one  of  Lee's  few  mis 
takes. 

Malvern  Hill  is  a  high  plateau  of  oblong  shape 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  in  length.  At  the  top 
it  is  bare  of  timber;  its  front  is  hollow  and  rises 
in  terraces.  On  the  slopes  of  this  hollow  the 
Federal  troops  planted  sixty  cannon,  and  the 
summit  was  occupied  by  ten  thousand  infantry. 
Lee  thought  he  could  take  this  position  and  cap 
ture  the  Union  army.  The  thing  was  manifestly 
impossible.  As  soon  as  the  Confederate  troops 
began  to  cross  the  half-mile  of  meadow  at  the 
foot  of  the  hill,  they  became  exposed  to  a  tre 
mendous  fire  of  both  cannon  and  artillery,  which 
converged  upon  them  as  they  approached.  And 
yet  charge  after  charge  Lee  and  Jackson  ordered 
against  that  impregnable  position,  only  desisting 
at  nightfall.  One  colonel,  on  receiving  the  com 
mand  to  advance,  protested,  "  My  men  will  be  an 
nihilated.  Nothing  in  the  world  can  live  there." 
Jackson  replied,  with  a  heartlessness  and  unwis 
dom  not  customary  with  him,  "  I  take  care  of  my 

20 


306  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

wounded  and  bury  my  dead."  The  Confederates 
fell  by  thousands.  Hill  said  it  was  not  war,  but 
murder.  This  blunder  on  the  part  of  Lee  and 
Jackson  gave  McClellan  his  only  important  and 
decisive  victory,  though  he  had  taken  no  part  in 
the  battle  himself,  being  at  that  time  on  a  gun 
boat  on  the  James  River.  It  would  seem  as 
if,  with  an  enemy  so  weakened  and  dispirited, 
McClellan's  grand  opportunity  had  arrived.  Lee 
was  in  no  condition  to  protect  Richmond.  But 
the  Federal  commander  said,  "  To  have  left 
our  position  would  have  endangered  our  com 
munications  and  removed  us  from  the  protection 
of  our  gunboats."  He  determined  to  continue 
the  retreat.  His  troops  were  weary;  but  General 
Kearney  expressed  the  sentiment  which  must 
have  been  held  by  the  majority  of  the  officers, 
when  he  said,  "  I,  Philip  Kearney,  an  old  soldier, 
enter  my  solemn  protest  against  this  retreat.  In 
full  view  of  the  responsibilities  of  such  a  declara 
tion,  I  say  to  you  that  such  an  order  can  be 
prompted  only  by  cowardice — or  treason."  The 
retreat  as  a  retrograde  movement  was  a  great 
tactical  success,  but  it  was  a  pitiful  sequel  to  the 
months  of  preparation;  in  it  McClellan  mani 
fested  his  superb  ability  to  move  an  army.  It  is 
a  remarkable  fact  that  throughout  the  Penin 
sular  campaign  McClellan  was  not  present  on 
the  field  during  any  serious  engagement. 

When  the  news  of  the  failure  of  the  Peninsular 
campaign  was  known  in  London,  it  greatly 
strengthened  the  belief  of  a  large  and  influential 


THE    WAR   IN   VIRGINIA  307 

party  that  the  North's  conquest  of  the  South 
was  impossible.  Gladstone  said  that  if  the  South 
were  set  upon  separation,  she  would  gain  her 
end.  And  he  reasoned  that  the  English  people 
should  be  careful  not  to  alienate  the  good-will  of 
the  cotton-producing  section.  The  Times  de 
clared,  "  The  war  can  only  end  in  one  way.  Why 
not  accept  the  facts  and  let  the  South  be  gone  ?" 
Palmerston's  sympathy  was  wholly  with  the  Con 
federacy.  Nevertheless,  the  English  government 
maintained  its  position  of  neutrality,  though  not 
with  extreme  care.  Englishmen  were  now  grow 
ing  to  think  that  the  sooner  the  war  was  ended 
by  the  success  of  the  South  the  better. 

Changes  were  now  brought  about  in  the  offi 
cering  of  the  Union  army.  Halleck  was  made 
commander-in-chief,  and  Pope  was  called  from 
the  West  to  take  command  of  the  newly  organ 
ized  Army  of  Virginia,  which  was  created  out  of 
the  corps  of  McDowell,  Fremont,  and  Banks. 
McClellan  was  still  at  Harrison's  Landing.  Much 
pressure  was  being  brought  upon  the  authorities 
to  have  him  replaced.  This  came  especially  from 
those  who  were  eager  for  radical  measures  in  re 
lation  to  slavery.  McClellan  was  notably  conser 
vative  in  regard  to  this  question,  a  fact  which 
served  to  strengthen  rumors  of  his  disloyalty  that 
were  in  the  air.  Chase  and  Stanton  strongly 
urged  the  President  to  place  Pope  at  the  head  of 
the  army  on  the  James.  Lincoln  was  unwilling 
to  do  this,  but  he  did  offer  the  command  to  Burn- 
side,  by  whom  it  was  declined.  On  August  3 


3o8  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

McClellan  was  ordered  to  remove  his  army  from 
the  Peninsula  to  Acquia  Creek.  Against  this  the 
General  earnestly  protested,  and  it  seems  as  if 
his  arguments  were  sound : 

"  Here  directly  in  front  of  this  army  is  the  heart  of  the 
rebellion.  It  is  here  that  all  our  resources  should  be  col 
lected  to  strike  the  blow  which  will  determine  the  fate  of  the 
nation.  All  points  of  secondary  importance  I'll  swear  should 
be  abandoned,  and  every  available  man  brought  here;  a 
decided  victory  here  and  the  military  strength  of  the  re 
bellion  is  crushed.  It  matters  not  what  partial  reverses  we 
may  meet  with  elsewhere.  Here  is  the  true  defence  of 
Washington.  It  is  here  on  the  banks  of  the  James  that  the 
fate  of  the  Union  should  be  decided.  I  entreat  that  this 
order  may  be  rescinded." 

Possibly,  if  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  been 
strongly  reinforced,  and  a  capable  and  fighting 
general  placed  at  its  head,  results  might  have 
been  different.  But  at  that  time  the  Union  au 
thorities  knew  of  no  man  on  whom  they  could 
place  such  reliance.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is 
also  possible  that  a  concentration  of  Federal 
troops  before  Richmond  would  have  led  Lee  to 
abandon  that  capital  to  its  fate  for  the  sake  of 
the  more  effective  measure  of  threatening  Wash 
ington.  When,  two  years  later,  Grant  carried 
out  what  was  practically  McClellan's  plan,  the 
greatly  weakened  Southern  army  under  Lee 
could  not  help  itself  by  threatening  Washington, 
as  that  city  was  well  taken  care  of  by  an  abun 
dance  of  Union  troops. 

Lee  now  learned  that  to  Pope's  Army  of  Vir 
ginia  was  to  be  intrusted  the  advance  on  Rich- 


THE   WAR   IN   VIRGINIA  309 

mond.  Pope  was  now,  in  the  popular  estima 
tion,  the  rival  of  McClellan.  Unfortunately  for 
himself,  he  began  with  a  lamentable  lack  of  tact 
which  made  him  unpopular  with  his  own  officers. 
Said  he,  in  an  address  to  his  men : 

"  We  have  always  seen  our  enemies'  backs  in  the  West ; 
I  come  from  an  army  which  sought  its  enemy  and  beat  him 
when  found;  whose  policy  has  not  been  defence,  but 
attack." 

The  railroad  south  to  Richmond  starts  at  Gor- 
donsville.  There  Pope's  army  lay,  watched  by 
Jackson.  Lee  determined  to  proceed  thither 
himself.  Before  he  could  do  so,  however,  the  bat 
tle  of  Cedar  Mountain  had  been  fought  (August 
9,  1862.)  Jackson's  army  numbered  over  twenty- 
two  thousand;  Banks  had  at  his  command  not 
more  than  a  third  of  that  number.  The  lat 
ter,  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  he  was  faced  by 
such  odds  (many  of  Jackson's  troops  being  con 
cealed  in  the  woods),  determined  on  the  attack. 
Such  was  the  courage  of  the  Federal  troops  on 
this  occasion  that  they  almost  gained  the  vic 
tory,  notwithstanding  the  overwhelming  odds. 
At  nightfall,  though  each  side  had  in  turn  been 
driven  back,  the  Federals  were  standing  bravely. 
Banks  in  this  fight  atoned  for  the  dismal  defeat 
he  had  previously  suffered  under  Jackson  on  the 
banks  of  the  Potomac. 

When  it  became  known  among  the  Confeder 
ates  that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  leaving 
Harrison's  Landing,  Lee  determined  to  give  his 


3 io  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

attention  to  Pope.  He  sent  Jackson  to  Pope's 
rear,  and  that  dashing  general  started  down  the 
Shenandoah  Valley  with  thirty-five  regiments 
and  undertook  a  manoeuvre  which  entirely  sur 
prised  the  Federals  by  its  audacity.  Turning  to 
the  east  after  reaching  Salem,  he  slipped 
through  Thoroughfare  Gap  and  made  a  raid  on 
Manassas  Junction,  where  the  Federals  had  large 
subsistence  stores.  After  allowing  his  soldiers 
to  help  themselves  to  what  they  needed  (and 
Confederate  troops  were  always  in  need),  he 
burned  the  remainder.  When  Jackson's  where 
abouts  became  known  to  Pope  the  latter  saw 
that  he  had  his  enemy  in  a  trap,  and  laid  every 
preparation  to  catch  him.  That  is,  he  made 
every  preparation  except  closing  the  door  of  the 
trap.  Not  that  Jackson  was  exceedingly  anxious 
to  get  out,  but  the  fact  that  Pope  failed  to  detail 
a  force  to  guard  Thoroughfare  Gap  allowed 
Longstreet  to  march  through.  When  Jackson 
saw  that  he  would  have  to  fight  Pope,  he  chose 
Bull  Run,  where  he  previously  had  done  famous 
service,  as  the  battle-field.  He  took  a  position 
west  of  the  Warrenton  Road,  where  he  could  be 
easily  met  by  Longstreet,  who  was  expected  in 
accordance  with  a  prearranged  plan.  Pope's 
army  appeared  on  the  27th,  and  Jackson  at 
tacked  him  during  the  afternoon.  A  battle  was 
fought  which  lasted  until  nine  o'clock,  when  the 
Federals  gave  way.  During  the  next  day  Jack 
son's  army  was  so  concealed  by  the  wooded  and 
hilly  condition  of  the  country  that  Pope,  though 


THE   WAR   IN   VIRGINIA  311 

he  was  anxious  to  engage  Jackson  before  the 
latter  could  be  reinforced,  was  not  able  to  find 
him.  In  the  mean  time  Longstreet  appeared,  and 
on  the  morning  of  the  29th,  finding  a  battle  in 
progress  between  Jackson  and  Pope,  came  upon 
the  field  in  the  latter's  rear.  Jackson  was  pro 
tected  in  front  by  an  embankment  of  a  railroad 
which  was  in  process  of  construction.  This  the 
Federals  gallantly  and  repeatedly  charged  under 
the  command  of  General  Glover.  It  was  a  ter 
rific  and  bloody  fight,  and  would  have  succeeded 
if  Glover  had  been  sustained.  Kearney  charged 
the  other  end  of  the  Confederate  line,  forcing 
back  the  enemy  until  it  was  reinforced  by  Long- 
street's  troops.  At  the  end  of  the  day  the  Fed 
erals  had  been  compelled  to  retire,  though  Pope 
was  under  the  impression  that  he  had  won  the 
battle,  and  sent  a  despatch  to  Washington  to  that 
effect.  But  on  the  following  day  Longstreet  and 
Jackson  were  still  retaining  their  position.  The 
greater  part  of  the  day  was  taken  up  with  skir 
mishing  and  an  artillery  duel.  But  at  three 
o'clock  Pope  attacked  Jackson  with  his  main 
force.  Longstreet  was  in  the  best  position  to 
assist  Jackson,  which  he  did  by  directing  a  tre 
mendous  fire  upon  the  Federal  support.  A  gen 
eral  advance,  anticipated  by  Longstreet,  drove 
the  Union  army  from  one  position  to  another 
until,  with  great  slaughter  and  in  confusion,  it 
was  forced  from  the  field;  and  the  second  great 
victory  for  the  Confederates  was  recorded  at  Bull 
Run.  Pope  endeavored  to  cast  the  blame  for 


3i2  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

this  disastrous  defeat  on  Fitzjohn  Porter,  who 
was  convicted  by  court-martial,  but  finally  exon 
erated.  He  was  to  have  made  an  attack  on  the 
left  unless  opposed  by  Longstreet.  Instead  of 
engaging,  he  manoeuvred  in  the  attempt  to  pre 
vent  Longstreet's  attack,  which  was  entirely  in 
accordance  with  his  orders.  Pope  was  now  in 
great  need  of  reinforcements.  McClellan,  who 
was  at  Alexandria,  was  ordered  to  send  men  un 
der  Franklin  and  Coxe ;  but  instead  of  doing  this 
he  argued  with  Halleck,  counselling  that  Pope  be 
left  "  to  get  out  of  his  scrape  and  at  once  use  all 
our  means  to  make  the  capital  perfectly  safe." 
This  caused  Lincoln  to  say,  "  McClellan  has 
acted  badly  towards  Pope ;  he  really  wanted  him 
to  fail." 


XIII 

LEE'S  INVASIONS 

AFTER  the  whole  summer's  campaign  the  situa 
tion  as  it  concerned  the  North  showed  no  signs  of 
improvement.  It  is  true  that  advantages  were 
being  gained  in  the  West;  there  the  Confed 
eracy  was  being  weakened  by  the  work  of  Grant 
and  Sherman;  but  the  war  must  be  won  or  lost 
in  Virginia.  That  was  the  heart  and  the  head 
of  the  Confederacy.  And  in  Virginia  matters 
looked  better  for  the  South  than  they  had  done 
at  any  time  since  the  first  battle  of  Manassas.  In 
Washington  there  was  corresponding  discour 
agement.  Indeed,  after  Pope's  defeat  the  North 
ern  capital  was  in  a  condition  closely  resembling 
panic.  All  the  employees  of  the  civil  depart 
ments  were  armed  for  the  defence  of  Washing 
ton.  The  Army  of  Virginia  was  called  within 
the  fortifications  and  consolidated  with  that  of 
the  Potomac,  McClellan  being  again  placed  at 
the  head. 

At  the  beginning  of  September  Lee  was  at 
Chantilli,  where  the  Union  army  suffered  a  severe 
loss  in  the  death  of  General  Philip  Kearney. 

The  Confederate  commander  now  had  it  in 
his  power  to  excite  in  Washington  the  gravest 
alarm.  His  army,  it  is  true,  was  poorly  equipped. 
The  troops  were  entirely  destitute  of  stores, 

3'3 


314  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

without  the  means  of  subsistence,  ragged  and 
shoeless.  Yet,  notwithstanding  this,  Lee  deter 
mined  to  cut  himself  off  from  the  base  of  sup 
plies.  He  could  not  afford  to  be  idle;  to  go 
forward  meant  the  invasion  of  Maryland.  No 
other  plan  was  so  likely  to  harass  and  annoy 
the  enemy.  Then,  too,  it  was  hoped  that  the 
natural  sympathy  which  subsisted  between  Mary 
land  and  the  South  would,  in  the  event  of  the 
victorious  presence  of  the  Confederate  army, 
lead  to  an  uprising.  Lee  and  Davis  thought 
that  a  decisive  victory  on  Federal  ground  would 
bring  the  North  to  a  willingness  to  discuss  terms 
of  peace.  On  the  4th  of  December  General  Lee 
wrote  to  President  Davis  from  Leesburg :  "  I 
shall  proceed  to  make  the  movement  at  once, 
unless  you  should  signify  your  disapprobation." 
But  he  did  not  wait  for  a  reply.  Indeed,  he  was 
across  the  Potomac  before  the  President  could 
have  received  his  despatch.  The  Confederate 
army,  forty-five  thousand  strong,  marched  for 
ward,  singing  "  Maryland,  my  Maryland,"  and 
on  the  6th  occupied  the  city  of  Frederick.  The 
advance  was  led  by  Jackson,  and  gave  the  occa 
sion  for  Whittiers  poem  concerning  Barbara 
Frietchie,  in  which  veracity  is  entirely  sub 
ordinated  to  the  picturesque.  Strict  search  of  all 
records  will  show  that  these  verses  which  have 
been  so  many  times  recited  in  every  school- 
house  in  the  North  were  not  "  founded  on 
fact."  Stonewall  Jackson  was  not  the  man  to 
wantonly  fire  on  the  Union  flag.  Later,  as  he 


LEE'S   INVASIONS  315 

was  marching  through  Middletown  on  his  way 
to  Harper's  Ferry,  two  girls  waved  miniature 
Union  flags  in  the  sight  of  his  men.  Jackson 
raised  his  hat  and  bowed,  saying  to  his  staff, 
:<  We  evidently  have  no  friends  in  this  town." 
While  at  Frederick,  Lee  issued  a  proclamation 
to  the  people  of  Maryland,  making  known  the 
motives  and  purposes  of  his  invasion  of  the  State. 
But  the  people  of  Maryland  did  not  seem  dis 
posed  to  rise.  In  fact,  Lee  was  received  by  them 
with  remarkable  coldness.  He  was  obliged  to 
subsist  on  the  country;  but  was  willing  to  pay 
for  his  supplies.  His  only  money,  however,  was 
Confederate  paper  currency,  for  which  the  Mary 
land  farmers  would  not  give  up  their  provisions. 
Lee  was  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  taking  pos 
session  of  Harper's  Ferry,  at  the  head  of  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,  in  order  to  keep  open  his 
line  of  communication.  This  obliged  him  to 
divide  his  army,  sending  Jackson  to  Harper's 
Ferry,  while  he  continued  his  march  into  Mary 
land.  The  fact  of  this  division  became  known 
at  the  Federal  head-quarters,  owing  to  an  order 
received  by  D.  H.  Hill  being  found  in  his  camp 
after  he  had  vacated  it.  McClellan  saw  the  op 
portunity,  and  for  once  made  haste  to  avail  him 
self  of  it ;  not  such  haste,  however,  as  he  might. 
He  overtook  Lee's  rear  at  South  Mountain,  and 
in  an  engagement  there  gained  a  distinct  advan 
tage.  Lee  retired  to  the  other  side  of  Antietam 
Creek,  near  the  town  of  Sharpesburg.  Lee  was 
now  in  a  most  precarious  position.  His  army 


316  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

being  depleted  by  twenty-five  thousand  in  Jack 
son's  division,  everything  depended  upon  the 
latter  general  returning  in  time  to  take  part  in 
the  battle  which  was  imminent.  Jackson  was 
successful  at  Harper's  Ferry.  The  garrison  was 
in  no  position  to  help  itself;  and  he  received 
the  surrender  of  its  twelve  thousand  five  hun 
dred  men  and  large  stores  of  supplies  without  a 
fight. 

If  McClellan  had  engaged  Lee  on  September 
15,  he  could  have  overwhelmed  him  with  his 
greatly  superior  force  before  Jackson's  return. 
He  did  not  commence  his  movement,  however, 
until  the  afternoon  of  the  i6th,  by  which  time 
Lee's  army  was  reunited.  At  two  o'clock 
Hooker  crossed  the  Antietam  and  engaged  the 
Confederate  left.  But  there  was  not  much  done 
on  that  day  except  to  give  each  commander 
opportunity  to  find  his  position  for  the  battle 
which  was  to  follow.  At  dawn  on  the  i/th, 
under  cover  of  their  artillery  fire,  the  Federals 
under  Hooker  attacked  Jackson's  division. 
After  an  obstinate  fight  and  great  loss  the  latter 
was  compelled  to  fall  back.  But  being  supported 
by  Hood,  and  afterwards  by  General  Walker,  the 
ground  was  regained.  French  and  Richardson, 
with  their  two  divisions  of  Sumner's  corps,  at 
tacked  the  Confederate  centre.  At  this  point 
occurred  the  greatest  carnage  of  the  battle. 
Here  was  "  Bloody  Lane,"  a  sunken  road  which 
was  the  scene  of  a  terrific  struggle.  Burnside 
was  ordered  to  capture  the  bridge  across  the 


LEE'S   INVASIONS  317 

Antietam,  which  has  since  been  called  by  his 
name.  He  was  successful  only  after  three  hours 
of  severe  fighting.  This  advantage  being  gained, 
the  village  of  Sharpsburg,  which  was  the  key  of 
Lee's  position,  would  have  been  carried  had  it  not 
been  for  the  timely  appearance  of  A.  P.  Hill's  di 
vision,  returning  from  Harper's  Ferry. 

Colonel  Taylor,  of  the  Confederate  army,  gives 
the  following  comprehensive  account  of  the  sec 
ond  day's  battle : 

"  When  the  issue  was  first  joined,  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
i6th,  General  Lee  had  with  him  less  than  eighteen  thousand 
men,  consisting  of  the  commands  of  Longstreet  and  D.  H. 
Hill,  the  two  divisions  of  Jackson,  and  two  brigades  under 
Walker.  Couriers  were  sent  to  the  rear  to  hurry  up  the 
divisions  of  A.  P.  Hill,  Anderson,  and  McLaws,  hastening 
from  Harper's  Ferry,  and  these  several  commands,  as  they 
reached  the  front  at  intervals  during  the  day,  on  the  I7th, 
were  immediately  deployed  and  put  to  work.  Every  man 
was  engaged.  We  had  no  reserve. 

"  The  fighting  was  heaviest  and  most  continuous  on  the 
Confederate  left.  It  is  established  by  Federal  evidence  that 
the  three  corps  of  Hooker,  Mansfield,  and  Sumner  were 
completely  shattered  in  the  repeated  but  fruitless  efforts  to 
turn  this  flank,  and  two  of  these  corps  were  rendered  useless 
for  further  aggressive  movements.  The  aggregate  strength 
of  the  attacking  column  at  this  point  reached  forty  thousand 
men,  not  counting  the  two  divisions  of  Franklin's  corps, 
sent  at  a  late  hour  in  the  day  to  rescue  the  Federal  right 
from  the  impending  danger  of  being  itself  destroyed;  while 
the  Confederates,  from  first  to  last,  had  less  than  fourteen 
thousand  men  on  this  flank,  consisting  of  Jackson's  two  divi 
sions,  McLaws's  division,  and  the  two  small  divisions,  of 
two  brigades  each,  under  Hood  and  Walker,  with  which  to 
resist  their  fierce  and  oft-repeated  assaults.  The  dispropor 
tion  in  the  centre  and  on  our  right  was  as  great  as,  or  even 
more  decided  than,  on  our  left." 


3i8  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

The  battle  of  Antietam  was  indecisive.  The 
Federal  loss  was  twelve  thousand  four  hundred 
and  ten;  the  Confederate,  eleven  thousand  one 
hundred  and  seventy-two.  It  has  been  a  subject 
of  great  controversy  as  to  which  side  the  honor 
of  the  battle  should  be  given.  Naturally,  Mc- 
Clellan  claimed,  in  writing  to  his  wife,  "  a  great 
success."  But  judging  it  according  to  "  points," 
and  making  allowances  for  the  handicap  due  to 
Lee  on  account  of  his  weaker  force,  he  should 
be  given  the  decision.  Nevertheless,  in  another 
sense  it  was  a  Northern  victory.  It  put  an  end 
to  the  Maryland  invasion.  Lee  was  compelled 
to  recross  the  Potomac  into  Virginia.  Six  weeks 
afterwards  he  was  followed  by  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac ;  but  the  pursuit  was  so  dilatory  that  at 
last  the  patience  of  Lincoln  and  Stanton  was 
worn  out,  and  McClellan  was  dismissed.  (No 
vember  5,  1862.) 

Our  view  of  McClellan's  character  and  ability 
leads  us  to  believe  that  his  removal  was  justified. 
He  had  done  great  things  for  the  organization 
of  the  army,  but  he  had  proved  conclusively,  and 
at  an  enormous  expense  of  means  and  oppor 
tunity,  that  he  was  not  able  to  use  the  machine 
he  had  created.  Nevertheless,  the  plea  of  his 
friends  that  the  animus  against  him  at  Washing 
ton  was  based  less  on  his  failures  than  on  his 
politics  is  perhaps  not  possible  of  refutation. 
There  were  men  in  high  position — -Lincoln 
always  excepted — who  were  not  anxious  for  de 
cisive  victories  at  the  hands  of  Democratic  gen- 


LEE'S   INVASIONS  319 

erals.  There  were  men  who  did  not  want  the 
destruction  of  the  Confederacy  to  come  before 
the  overthrow  of  slavery.  It  is  our  own  convic 
tion  that  a  close  and  intimate  understanding  of 
the  effect  of  Northern  administrative  politics  in 
the  conduct  of  the  war  reveals  a  perfidious 
betrayal  of  the  lives  of  men  and  the  welfare  of 
the  nation. 

Every  one  remembers  Lee's  humorous  saying 
on  the  occasion,  that  he  regretted  parting  with 
McClellan  "  because  we  understood  each  other 
so  well.  I  fear  if  they  keep  on  changing  gen 
erals,  they  may  get  one  that  I  don't  understand." 
Indirectly,  the  battle  of  Antietam  meant  much 
for  the  Union  cause.  The  November  elections 
were  close  at  hand,  and  it  is  fairly  certain  that 
had  Lee  won  a  decisive  victory,  it  would  have  had 
such  effect  on  the  returns  from  those  elections 
that  the  Northern  administration  would  have 
found  great  difficulty  in  continuing  the  war. 

Moreover,  Lincoln  had  determined  that  the 
setting  back  of  the  Maryland  invasion  should  be 
a  signal  to  him  for  the  announcement  of  his 
Emancipation  Proclamation.  For  many  months 
this  had  been  a  subject  of  serious  questioning  in 
Lincoln's  mind.  Much  pressure  was  brought  to 
bear  upon  him  from  both  sides  in  the  North.  He 
was  hounded  by  the  radicals,  who  considered 
that  the  war  was  being  fought  wholly  for  the 
freedom  of  the  negro.  He  was  persuaded  by  the 
conservatives,  who  had  respect  to  the  Constitu 
tion.  On  April  25,  1862,  Major-General  Hunter, 


320  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

who  was  commanding  at  Hilton  Head,  South 
Carolina,  issued  an  order  declaring  the  States  of 
Georgia,  Florida,  and  South  Carolina  under  the 
operation  of  martial  law;  and  on  May  9  he  pro 
claimed  "  the  persons  held  as  slaves  in  those 
States  to  be  forever  free."  Lincoln,  however, 
on  May  19,  issued  a  counter-proclamation  nulli 
fying  that  of  Hunter.  In  this  he  said : 

"  I  further  make  known  that,  whether  it  be  competent  for 
me  as  commander-in-chief  ot  the  army  and  navy  to  declare 
the  slaves  of  any  State  or  States  free,  and  whether  at  any 
time  or  in  any  case  it  shall  have  become  a  necessity  indis 
pensable  to  the  maintenance  of  the  government  to  examine 
such  supposed  power,  are  questions  which,  under  my  respon 
sibility,  I  reserve  to  myself,  and  which  I  cannot  feel  justified 
in  leaving  to  the  decision  of  commanders  in  the  field." 

In  August,  1862,  Horace  Greeley  published  a 
letter  addressed  to  the  President,  entitled  "  The 
Prayer  of  Twenty  Millions."  In  this  he  said, 
"  On  the  face  of  this  wide  earth,  Mr.  President, 
there  is  not  one  disinterested,  determined,  intel 
ligent  champion  of  the  Union  cause  who  does  not 
feel  that  all  attempts  to  put  down  the  rebellion 
and  at  the  same  time  uphold  its  inciting  cause 
are  preposterous  and  futile."  Lincoln  replied  to 
this  on  August  22.  His  words  are  eminently 
characteristic  of  the  man,  of  his  wisdom,  and 
unity  of  purpose : 

"  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless 
they  could  at  the  same  time  save  slavery,  I  do  not  agree 
with  them.  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union 
unless  they  could  at  the  same  time  destroy  slavery,  I  do  not 
agree  with  them.  My  paramount  object  is  to  save  the  Union, 
and  not  either  to  save  or  to  destroy  slavery.  If  I  could 


LEE'S   INVASIONS  321 

save  the  Union  without  freeing  any  slave,  I  would  do  it. 
If  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  all  the  slaves,  I  would  do  it; 
and  if  I  could  do  it  by  freeing  some  and  leaving  others 
alone,  I  would  also  do  that.  What  I  do  about  slavery  and 
the  colored  race  I  do  because  I  believe  it  helps  to  save  the 
Union.  I  shall  do  less  whenever  I  shall  believe  that  what 
I  am  doing  hurts  the  cause,  and  I  shall  do  more  whenever 
I  believe  doing  more  will  help  the  cause." 

But  for  some  time  after  he  had  reached  the 
determination  that  emancipation  must  come  he 
deferred  action,  awaiting  the  opportune  moment. 
On  the  22d  of  September  Lincoln  summoned  his 
Cabinet.  As  they  assembled  they  found  the 
President  alleviating  the  stress  of  his  mind  by 
reading  Artemus  Ward.  He  finished  the  chap 
ter  by  reading  it  aloud,  all  being  amused  with 
the  exception  of  Stanton.  Then  Lincoln's  man 
ner  took  a  graver  tone.  He  said,  "  When  the 
rebel  army  was  at  Frederick,  I  determined  as 
soon  as  it  should  be  driven  out  of  Maryland  to 
issue  a  Proclamation  of  Emancipation,  such  as 
I  thought  most  likely  to  be  useful.  I  said  noth 
ing  to  any  one,  but  I  made  a  promise  to  myself 
and  (hesitating  a  little)  to  my  Maker.  The 
rebel  army  is  now  driven  out,  and  I  am  going  to 
fulfil  that  promise.  I  have  got  you  together 
to  hear  what  I  have  written  down.  I  do  not  wish 
your  advice  about  the  main  matter,  for  that  I 
have  determined  for  myself.  This  I  say  without 
intending  anything  but  respect  for  any  one  of 
you.  But  I  already  know  the  views  of  each  on 
this  question."  He  then  read  his  proclamation, 
which  was  published  the  following  day.  It  was  to 

21 


322  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

take  effect  on  the  first  day  of  January,  one  thou 
sand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three. 

What  did  Lincoln  expect  to  gain  by  this  meas 
ure  ?  That  it  would  weaken  the  South  by  stirring 
up  the  negroes  to  seek  the  realization  of  their 
freedom?  Its  slight  result  in  this  respect  was 
owing  to  the  elemental  dissimilarity  between  the 
mind  of  the  negro  and  that  of  the  Caucasian, 
the  existence  of  which  the  abolitionists  would 
not  admit.  The  proclamation  invited  the  free 
negroes  to  take  arms  in  the  Union  service. 
Before  the  end  of  the  year  Lincoln  could  say, 
"  Of  those  who  were  slaves  at  the  beginning  of 
the  rebellion,  full  one  hundred  thousand  are 
now  in  the  United  States'  military  service,  about 
one-half  of  which  number  actually  bear  arms  in 
the  ranks,  thus  giving  the  double  advantage  of 
taking  so  much  labor  from  the  insurgent  cause 
and  supplying  the  places  which  otherwise  must 
be  filled  with  so  many  white  men.  So  far  as 
tested,  it  is  difficult  to  say  they  are  not  as  good 
soldiers  as  any."  This  was  a  bitter  blow  to  the 
South.  It  hurt  her  pride,  as  well  as  her  pros 
pects,  to  face  as  free  combatants  the  men  who 
had  been  her  chattels.  It  must  also  be  confessed 
that  it  was  not  far  from  bordering  on  that  bar 
barity  which  the  law  of  civilized  nations  dis 
countenances  to  arm  those  who  were  in  many 
cases  not  more  than  a  generation  removed  from 
the  savagery  of  the  African  jungle. 

The  main  purpose  of  the  Emancipation  Proc 
lamation  was,  however,  to  affect  European  sym- 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 
From  a  photograph  by  Brady 


LEE'S    INVASIONS  323 

pathy,  and  to  revive  the  enthusiasm  of  the  dis 
affected  radicals  of  the  North.  It  is  worthy  of 
notice,  however,  that  on  September  13,  only 
nine  days  previous  to  the  Cabinet  meeting, 
President  Lincoln  thus  answered  the  delegation 
of  clergymen  from  Chicago : 

"  What  good  would  a  proclamation  of  emancipation  from 
me  do,  especially  as  we  are  now  situated?  I  do  not  want 
to  issue  a  document  that  the  whole  world  would  see  must 
necessarily  be  inoperative,  like  the  Pope's  bull  against  the 
comet.  Would  my  word  free  the  slaves,  when  I  cannot  even 
enforce  the  Constitution  in  the  rebel  States?  Is  there  a 
single  court,  or  magistrate,  or  individual  that  would  be 
influenced  by  it  there?  And  what  reason  is  there  to  think 
it  would  have  any  greater  effect  upon  the  slaves  than  the 
late  law  of  Congress  which  I  approved,  and  which  offers 
protection  and  freedom  to  the  slaves  of  rebel  masters  who 
come  within  our  lines  ?  Yet  I  cannot  learn  that  that  law  has 
caused  a  single  slave  to  come  over  to  us.  And  suppose  they 
could  be  induced  by  a  proclamation  of  freedom  from  me  to 
throw  themselves  upon  us,  what  should  we  do  with  them? 
How  can  we  feed  and  care  for  such  a  multitude?  .  .  . 

"  If,  now,  the  pressure  of  the  war  should  call  off  our 
forces  from  New  Orleans  to  defend  some  other  point,  what 
is  to  prevent  the  masters  from  reducing  the  blacks  to  slavery 
again?  .  .  .  Now,  then,  tell  me,  if  you  please,  what  pos 
sible  result  of  good  would  follow  the  issuing  of  such  a 
proclamation  as  you  desire?  I  have  not  decided  against 
a  proclamation  of  liberty  to  the  slaves,  but  hold  the  matter 
under  advisement." 

Lincoln  proclaimed  the  emancipation  of  the 
slaves  by  virtue  of  the  war  power  vested  in  him 
as  President.  The  argument  for  the  constitu 
tionality  of  the  act  was  based  on  the  idea  that 
the  slaves  were  property,  and  that  it  was  right 
to  convert  the  property  of  the  enemy  to  the  ad- 


324  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

vantage  of  the  Union.  He  said,  "Armies,  the 
world  over,  destroy  enemies'  property  when  they 
cannot  use  it;  and  even  destroy  their  own  to 
keep  it  from  the  enemy.  Civilized  belligerents 
do  all  in  their  power  to  help  themselves  or  hurt 
the  enemy,  except  a  few  things  regarded  as  bar 
barous  or  cruel." 

That  there  was  at  this  time  an  increasing  ele 
ment  of  discontent  in  the  North  is  shown  by  the 
returns  of  the  November  elections  of  1862. 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
and  Wisconsin,  States  which  had  in  1860  voted 
for  Lincoln,  now  gave  Democratic  majorities. 
New  York  City  alone  recorded  its  discontent  by 
a  change  of  forty-eight  thousand  votes,  making 
a  Democratic  majority  of  that  year  of  thirty-one 
thousand.  The  general  result  in  the  North  was 
so  markedly  unfavorable  to  the  administration 
that  the  New  York  Times  claimed  it  to  be  equal 
to  a  "  vote  of  want  of  confidence."  This,  how 
ever,  we  believe  was  brought  about  not  so  much 
by  the  proclamation  as  by  the  lack  of  success 
on  the  battle-field.  The  people  were  growing 
tired  of  the  war.  The  key-note  of  the  Demo 
cratic  platforms  was,  "  The  Constitution  as  it  is, 
and  the  Union  as  it  was."  The  people  did  not 
enjoy  seeing  the  Constitution  trampled  on  as  it 
was — perhaps  unnecessarily — in  those  days.  The 
suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  a 
usurpation  of  power  on  the  part  of  the  Executive 
which  came  as  a  shock  to  liberty-loving  Ameri 
cans.  New  offences  were  created,  such  as  the 


LEE'S   INVASIONS  325 

discouraging  of  enlistment,  which  seemed  like 
a  direct  infringement  of  the  freedom  of  express 
ing  opinion.  By  virtue  of  such  proceedings 
many  seemingly  tyrannical  arrests  were  made. 

After  Burnside's  supersession  of  McClellan  he 
at  once  proceeded  to  disturb  the  quiet  which, 
since  Antietam,  had  been  maintained  on  the  Po 
tomac.  But  Burnside  quickly  proved  that  he  was 
not  the  man  which  the  Northern  cause  needed. 
Brave  to  the  highest  degree,  and  successful  as  a 
subordinate  commander,  he  was  entirely  lacking 
in  the  capacity  to  plan  a  comprehensive  strategy 
and  to  utilize  an  army  like  that  of  the  Poto 
mac.  It  is  to  his  credit  that  he  had  no  desire 
for  the  position. 

His  plan  was  to  take  Fredericksburg  as  his 
base  for  an  advance  on  Richmond.  He  had  hoped 
to  surprise  I^ee.  But  during  the  several  days 
spent  in  gathering  pontoon  bridges  for  crossing 
the  Rappahannock  the  Confederate  general  be 
came  fully  aware  of  Burnside's  plan,  and  arranged 
his  own  to  counteract  it.  The  Union  army  was 
organized  into  three  divisions,  under  Hooker, 
Franklin,  and  Sumner.  On  the  i  ith  of  December 
Franklin  and  Sumner  effected  a  landing  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river  under  cover  of  the  Federal 
artillery.  Owing  to  this  bombardment,  it  went 
hard  with  the  inhabitants  of  Fredericksburg. 
They  were  forced  from  their  homes  in  search  of 
places  of  safety;  many  found  no  secure  shelter, 
and  were  exposed  to  the  elements  and  destitute 
of  food. 


326  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

The  Confederate  army  occupied  the  bluffs  be 
tween  which  and  the  river  the  town  lay.  Imme 
diately  opposite  Fredericksburg  is  Marye's 
Heights.  This  eminence  was  crowned  with  ar 
tillery  and  lined  with  infantry  fortified  with  rifle 
pits  and  a  stone  wall.  Burnside  was  determined 
to  take  this  impregnable  position  by  direct  as 
sault.  Division  after  division  was  led  against 
it,  but  before  they  could  get  near  the  foot  of 
the  hill  the  deadly  fire  would  rake  them,  and 
their  broken  columns  were  forced  back.  Hooker 
begged  Burnside  to  desist  from  this  foolish  and 
suicidal  attempt,  but  he  obstinately  ordered  the 
charge  to  go  on.  Humphreys  led  forty-five 
thousand  men  against  the  position  and  lost  a 
thousand.  It  could  no  longer  be  endured.  The 
regiments  retreated  in  confusion,  and  the  battle 
was  lost.  The  dead  lay  in  heaps  at  the  foot  of 
Marye's  Heights.  There  was  nothing  indecisive 
about  this  battle  (December  13,  1862).  The 
Federal  loss  was  more  than  three  times  that  of 
the  Confederate,  and  Burnside  was  driven  back 
across  the  river.  He  had  uselessly  sacrificed 
his  men,  who  had  now  lost  all  confidence  in  him. 
The  army,  rank  and  file,  was  completely  demoral 
ized. 

Lee  here  certainly  lost  an  opportunity.  Burn- 
side  did  not  recross  the  Rappahannock  until  the 
day  following  his  defeat.  He  had  nothing  to 
cross  on  except  inadequate  pontoon  bridges. 
Had  Lee  pressed  the  pursuit,  he  could  have  an 
nihilated  the  Union  army.  But  he  did  not  know 


LEE'S   INVASIONS  327 

the  extent  of  his  success,  nor  was  he  ever  good 
at  following  up  a  victory. 

The  prospects  of  the  North  were  now  at  a 
very  low  ebb.  Her  best  army  was  defeated,  in 
deed  had  never  brilliantly  won;  the  confidence 
of  the  people  was  falling  away  from  the  adminis 
tration.  Meigs  wrote  to  Burnside  :  "  I  begin  to 
doubt  the  possibility  of  maintaining  the  contest 
beyond  this  'winter  unless  the  popular  heart  is 
encouraged  by  victory  on  the  Rappahannock." 
There  was  no  unity  of  purpose  among  Stanton, 
Halleck,  and  Burnside.  The  general  was  anxious 
to  repair  his  loss  in  another  attempt  across  the 
river;  he  also  expressed  his  willingness  to  retire 
to  private  life.  He  could  not  place  his  pontoon 
bridges,  and  he  blamed  his  ill  success  to  his  divi 
sion  commanders,  and  wished  to  replace  them. 
It  ended  in  his  own  retirement  and  Hooker  being 
given  the  chief  command. 

In  Lincoln's  Cabinet  affairs  at  this  time  were 
far  from  satisfactory.  Seward  was  not  giving 
satisfaction  to  the  radical  Republicans.  They 
were  convinced  that  he  was  hampering  the  Pres 
ident  by  his  conservatism.  In  view  of  this  feel 
ing,  Seward  resigned  in  December.  Chase  also, 
who  had  passed  open  strictures  on  the  Presi 
dent's  policy,  resigned  on  the  2Oth.  But  Lincoln 
could  not  afford  to  lose  these  men,  and  induced 
them  to  reconsider.  There  never  was  a  chief 
magistrate  who  was  so  humble  under  criticism, 
and  yet  so  firm  in  his  own  purpose.  Moreover, 
it  was  an  axiom  with  him  "  not  to  swop  horses 


328  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

while  crossing  the  stream."  Lincoln's  manner 
and  habits  were  totally  misleading.  Undoubt 
edly  Richard  H.  Dana's  estimate  of  him  was 
shared  by  many  at  this  time.  He  wrote  to 
Charles  F.  Adams : 

"  As  to  the  politics  of  Washington,  the  most  striking  thing 
is  the  absence  of  personal  loyalty  to  the  President.  It  does 
not  exist.  He  has  no  admirers,  no  enthusiastic  supporters, 
none  to  bet  on  his  head.  If  a  Republican  convention  were 
to  be  held  to-morrow,  he  would  not  get  the  vote  of  a  State. 
He  does  not  act,  or  talk,  or  feel  like  the  ruler  of  a  great 
empire  in  a  great  crisis.  This  is  felt  by  all,  and  has  got 
down  through  all  the  layers  of  society.  It  has  a  disastrous 
effect  on  all  departments  and  classes  of  officials,  as  well  as 
on  the  public.  He  seems  to  me  to  be  fonder  of  details  than 
of  principles,  of  tithing  the  mint,  anise,  and  cummin  of  pat 
ronage,  and  personal  questions,  than  of  the  weightier  matters 
of  empire.  He  likes  rather  to  talk  and  tell  stories  with  all 
sorts  of  persons  who  come  to  him  for  all  sorts  of  purposes 
than  to  give  his  mind  to  the  noble  and  manly  duties  of  his 
great  post.  It  is  difficult  to  detect  that  this  is  the  feeling  of 
his  Cabinet.  He  has  a  kind  of  shrewdness  and  common 
sense,  mother  wit,  and  slipshod,  low-levelled  honesty,  that 
made  him  a  good  Western  jury  lawyer.  But  he  is  an  un 
utterable  calamity  to  us  where  he  is.  Only  the  army  can 
save  us.  Congress  is  not  a  council  of  state.  It  is  a  mere 
district  representation  of  men  of  district  reputations.  It 
has  passed  some  good  laws  to  enable  the  President  to  do 
the  work,  but  the  nation  does  not  look  up  to  it  for  counsel 
or  lead." 

After  the  bloody  reverses  of  1862  it  became 
increasingly  difficult  to  replenish  the  Union  ranks 
by  volunteers.  As  early  as  April  16,  1862,  the 
Confederate  Congress  had  passed  a  Conscription 
Act,  including  all  white  males  between  the  ages 
of  eighteen  and  thirty-five.  Those  who  had 


LEE'S   INVASIONS  329 

already  enlisted,  though  for  but  one  or  two  years, 
were  held  to  the  service  of  the  Southern  govern 
ment  to  the  end  of  the  war.  In  March,  1863,  the 
Federal  government  followed  this  lead.  An  Act 
was  passed  placing  at  the  disposal  of  the  Execu 
tive  all  able-bodied  male  citizens  between  the 
ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five.  This  included 
aliens  who  had  declared  their  intention  of  be 
coming  citizens.  It  declared  any  man  drafted 
and  not  reporting  for  service  a  deserter.  Service 
was  to  be  commuted  by  the  payment  of  three 
hundred  dollars.  This  bill  was  a  strict  party 
measure.  In  the  House,  the  Democrats,  forty- 
nine  against  one  hundred  and  fifteen,  voted 
against  it ;  in  the  Senate  it  was  passed  by  thirty- 
five  Republicans,  opposed  by  eleven  Democrats. 
At  the  period  of  which  we  are  writing,  opposi 
tion  to  the  war  was  daily  increasing.  Of  course, 
it  was  almost  entirely  confined  to  the  Democrats, 
though  it  is  very  far  from  the  truth  to  say  that 
all  Democrats  took  this  position.  Those  who 
desired  to  see  the  Union  fail  in  the  struggle  with 
the  South — and  they  were  neither  few  nor  un 
important — became  known  as  "  Copperheads." 
It  was  considered  a  term  of  reproach  by  the 
loyal,  but  of  it  those  to  whom  it  was  rightly  ap 
plied  were  not  ashamed.  Noteworthy  among 
these  was  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  of  Boston.  But 
the  most  famous  Copperhead  was  Clement  L. 
Vallandigham,  of  Ohio,  who  boldly  denounced 
and  resisted  the  administration  in  its  conduct 
of  the  war.  On  December  5,  1862,  he  offered  a 


330  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

series  of  resolutions  in  which  he  declared  "  that, 
as  the  war  was  originally  waged  for  the  purpose 
of  defending  and  maintaining  the  supremacy  of 
the  Constitution  and  the  preservation  of  the 
Union,  .  .  .  whosoever  should  attempt  to  per 
vert  the  same  to  a  war  of  subjugation,  and  for 
overthrowing  or  interfering  with  the  rights  of 
the  States,  and  to  abolish  slavery,  would  be  guilty 
of  a  crime  against  the  Constitution  and  the 
Union."  After  his  term  in  Congress  expired,  in 
March,  1863,  he  returned  to  Ohio  and  organized 
a  political  attack  on  the  administration.  The 
idea  of  Vallandigham,  and  the  many  who  sided 
with  him,  was  that  the  North  should  stop  the 
fighting  and  accept  foreign  mediation;  it  being 
then  generally  understood  that  France  was  on 
the  point  of  offering  such  mediation.  Burnside 
was  at  that  time  commander  of  the  Department 
of  the  Ohio.  He  issued  an  order  declaring  that 
persons  within  the  lines  found  committing  cer 
tain  specified  acts  calculated  to  aid  and  comfort 
the  enemy  should  be  arrested  and  capitally  pun 
ished.  Under  this  order,  on  May  4,  a  company 
of  soldiers  broke  into  Vallandigham's  house  at 
half-past  two  in  the  morning  and  arrested  him. 
He  was  placed  in  the  military  prison  in  Cincin 
nati.  He  was  tried  before  a  military  commission, 
which  found  him  guilty  of  "  publicly  express 
ing,  in  violation  of  General  Orders  Number  38 
(Burnside's),  sympathy  for  those  in  arms  against 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  de 
claring  disloyal  sentiments  and  opinions,  with 


NEW  ENGLAND  F&N11 


In  a  Speech  at  Framing-ham,  Massachusetts,  July  4th,  1863, 
WENDELL  PHTT.TiTPS,  now  the  great  Apostle  of  Aboli 
tionism,  said, 


-Th*  I  nlnn  nlibour  tibrrtj  tta  Ibf  nrcrtvn.)  i»  Infold  tm-4*j  mmrt  acaarmid  Ikaa  tt  wm  an  Ita* 
•kr  la.i  «a..rirr  of  a  rr.mr}.  talon  with..!  liberty  I  .oil  upaa,  a*  (be  ••JiMJia  «f  «M>  WOT*  aarf 
4k*  «•»••«•  of  llw  nlnrtr<-ath  r^mrr.- 

-Hrnn-mlM-r  ihiv  Ihr  yotincrsit  of  JIMI:  Ibnl  on  ihr  «rti  dnj  of  Jafy,  IHWt,  ,OB  bMnl  >  ma»  wy, 
th.i  ID  ihr  11*1.1  of  nil  hi.ior,,  in  Tirtnr  of  rrrrj  p«Zr  h.-  r.rr  rrud.  h..  »a,  «n  amxliBraailnaM  (•  (be 
ulniu-i  ruml.  (  Ipnlaaw.)  I  hnrr  no  bopc  for  Ihr  fnlurr.  a«  Ihi.  rouatr)  ha.  no  part  Bad  EaraaB 
ha.  n«  pa-i,  HI  T  U  TH4T  SI  HI.I1K  fIIX.I.1^4.  OK  R  *<».  WHICH  IM  GOD'S  OW» 
nKTIIOII  OK  <  It  II.I/.IX.  I'M)  KI.K>  iTI5«.  THf 


The  Rev.  Dr.  TYNG,  at  a  Meeting  of  the  Freedmen's  Relief 
Society,  New  York,  November  9th,  1863,  said, 

->o  zradnal  emancipation  iiov. .      ><i  roinprowlrd  rmanrlpatloa  naw.     ><r»  pat  Otr  «ie  ta  tkr 
root  of  th.-  tree,  »nd  down  wilh  it-dot, u   with  II.- 

-li.  ull  thul  rletate*  lli<>  human  rhi.rarlrr.  Mark  i.i.-n  ami  hlurk  wamrn  hate  .down  ibrai 
rx»llrd  and  slori.Ml.  u.  a.,,   tthiu-  in.  n  and  while  wom.i.  in  Ih.    laud.     Th.    time  ha.  roow- 

ilh»n"r,,ly'',T  'r'he  'rouIlriiHBrr  "bir'h  I'rr^.'r^'/wm  ™^J  l^i«aart  L'u^Tte  d««- 
HlM-u  Ihr  di.liiiriioii  |M-I«,-™  blnrk  and  whltr.  a.  a  dj*tinrlioa  af  m-laroral  rt>a«-l  aa 
b,-  aw  of  ilim.-  hmeful  Ibint-  wbkh  w<-  haTr  borled  btwalh  ibe  pyramid  oadrr  wblrb  i 

I.  i.Urrre.l  till  ll  rol.  for  all  KTITlllJ.*' 

HORACE  GREELY,  before  any  State  had  attempted  to  go 
out  of  the  Union,  said, 

,  uniU'dl)   and  winMstt}',  wish  lo 


In  "HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS,"  published  in  I860, 
a  book  that  was  recommended  by  the  present  Secretary  of 
State  will  be  found  (pages  155-6,)  these  words: 


ANTI- ABOLITION    PLACARD 


LEE'S    INVASIONS  331 

the  object  and  purpose  of  weakening  the  power 
of  government  in  its  efforts  to  suppress  an  un 
lawful  rebellion."  He  was  sentenced  to  impris 
onment  during  the  continuance  of  the  war.  This, 
however,  the  President  commuted  to  banish 
ment,  and  ordered  that  Vallandigham  be  sent  be 
yond  the  military  lines  into  the  Southern  Con 
federacy  (May  25).  This  was  putting  him  where 
it  was  supposed  he  belonged.  But  there  can  be 
no  question  that  the  whole  proceeding  was  en 
tirely  illegal.  This  arbitrary  creation  of  political 
offences,  and  the  many  arrests  and  imprison 
ments  resulting  therefrom,  was  a  mistaken  policy 
on  the  part  of  Lincoln  and  his  administration, 
and  did  much  to  foster  in  the  North  opposition 
to  the  government. 

During  the  summer  of  1863  several  riots  oc 
curred  in  different  Northern  cities  when  the  Fed 
eral  authorities  proceeded  to  enforce  the  new 
levy  for  soldiers  called  for  in  the  preceding  April. 
The  most  serious  of  these  popular  uprisings  was 
that  which  in  July  caused  a  reign  of  terror  in 
New  York.  In  the  tenement  districts  opposition 
to  the  draft  or  conscription  of  men  was  espe 
cially  serious,  as  advantage  had  been  taken  of 
Lee's  invasion  of  Pennsylvania  to  inflame  public 
hatred  against  the  national  authorities  as  well 
as  against  the  negroes.  Incendiary  placards,  not 
to  mention  questionable  editorials  in  one  or  two 
Democratic  newspapers  of  the  city,  brought  dis 
cord  to  the  highest  pitch. 

Negroes  were  attacked  and  murdered  in  the 


332  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

streets;  the  Colored  Orphan  Asylum  in  Fifth 
Avenue  and  Forty-fourth  Street  was  sacked  and 
burned;  and  the  soldiers  and  police  were  defied 
by  thousands  of  foreigners,  reinforced  by  the 
dangerous  element  of  the  native  population,  who 
had  robbed  armories  and  gun-shops  of  fire-arms. 
More  than  one  thousand  rioters  were  killed,  to 
gether  with  many  citizens  and  soldiers.  Among 
the  latter  was  Colonel  Henry  J.  O'Brien,  a  gal 
lant  member  of  the  Eleventh  New  York  Volun 
teers. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  rioters,  in 
spite  of  their  excesses,  had  a  real  grievance;  and 
had  the  wise  counsel  of  Horatio  Seymour,  then 
governor  of  the  State,  to  Lincoln  been  followed, 
much  of  the  trouble  might  have  been  averted. 
Seymour  came  in  for  much  undeserved  criticism, 
however,  and  there  was  some  talk  of  treating 
him  as  Vallandigham,  Bright,  and  other  Demo 
cratic  chiefs  had  been  treated. 

Seymour,  in  his  inaugural  address,  took  occa 
sion  to  say  that  while  he  had  sworn  to  support 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  he  had 
also  sworn  to  support  that  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  After  the  riots  some  correspondence  took 
place  between  him  and  Lincoln  (Appleton's  An 
nual,  1863),  in  which  Seymour  claimed  that  un 
der  the  provision  of  the  Enrolment  Act  the  law 
required  that  the  quotas  should  be  so  assigned 
as  to  equalize  the  number  of  men  among  the  dis 
tricts  of  the  several  States,  allowance  being  made 
for  those  already  furnished  as  well  as  for  the  time 


LEE'S   INVASIONS  333 

of  service.  It  was  claimed,  with  apparent  jus 
tice,  that  New  York  had  hitherto  furnished  a  sur 
plus,  and  was  entitled  to  credit,  but  the  state 
ment  of  the  Federal  provost  marshal  did  not 
agree  with  the  records  of  the  Adjutant-General 
of  the  State.  Seymour  sought  to  have  a  com 
parison  made  of  the  records  of  the  two  officers, 
and  said  it  was  believed  "  by  at  least  one-half  of 
the  people  of  the  loyal  States  that  the  Conscrip 
tion  Act  was  in  itself  a  violation  of  the  Supreme 
Constitution." 

Lincoln,  while  earnestly  declaring  in  reply  that 
the  government  would  interpose  "  no  obstacles 
to  the  earliest  practical  decision  upon  this  point," 
made  it  clear  that  he  would  not  consent  to  a  sus 
pension  of  the  draft  in  New  York  City,  because, 
among  other  things,  time  was  too  important. 
The  President  did  not  object  to  referring  the 
controversy  to  the  Federal  Supreme  Court,  and 
Seymour  urged  that  "  the  action  of  the  admin 
istration  will  determine  in  the  minds  of  more 
than  one-half  the  people  of  the  loyal  States 
whether  this  war  is  waged  to  put  down  rebellion 
at  the  South  or  to  destroy  free  institutions  at 
the  North."  The  restoration  of  authority  and 
the  settlement  of  the  difference  between  the  local 
and  national  governments  prevented  further 
trouble. 

When  Hooker  took  command  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  he  found  it  in  an  extremely  demor 
alized  condition.  The  men  had  become  dis 
heartened  and  sulky.  Desertions  were  alarm- 


334  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

ingly  numerous.  Hooker  himself  testified  that 
"  so  anxious  were  parents,  wives,  brothers,  and 
sisters  to  relieve  their  kindred  that  they  filled 
the  express  trains  to  the  army  with  packages  of 
citizen  clothing  to  assist  them  in  escaping."  But 
the  new  commander's  talent  for  organization  cor 
rected  these  evils,  and  by  April  he  had  deter 
mined  to  take  an  offensive  attitude. 

Lee  was  at  Fredericksburg  with  sixty  thousand 
troops.  Hooker  had  an  available  one  hundred 
and  thirty  thousand.  The  cry,  "  On  to  Rich 
mond,"  was  again  raised.  The  Union  general's 
plan  was  that  Sedgwick  should  make  a  feint  at 
Fredericksburg,  while  he  himself,  with  the 
greater  part  of  the  army,  would  cross  the  Rap- 
pahannock  above  Chancellorsville  and  attack 
the  Confederate  rear.  This  part  of  the  pro 
gramme  was  carried  out.  But  instead  of  making 
the  attack  as  soon  as  he  reached  a  favorable  po 
sition  Hooker  fell  back  into  the  Wilderness,  a 
wild  country  in  which  the  movements  of  cavalry 
and  artillery  were  seriously  retarded.  Lee  was 
not  outwitted.  He  turned  to  face  Hooker,  and 
in  the  mean  time  sent  Jackson — noted  for  his 
wonderful  celerity  in  flank  movements — to  make 
a  fifteen-mile  detour  with  twenty  thousand  men 
who  were  to  fall  on  Hooker's  rear,  while  Lee 
made  the  attack  in  front.  Jackson  was  success 
ful  in  this  movement,  and  surprised  the  Federals 
while  at  supper.  His  troops  were  seen  while  on 
the  march,  but  the  Federals  supposed  they  were 
retreating.  The  consequence  was  a  complete 


LEE'S   INVASIONS  335 

rout  of  the  Eleventh  Corps  of  Hooker's  army. 
But  this  victory  was  won  at  the  cost  of  Jackson's 
life,  and  the  Confederates  might  far  better  have 
lost  the  battle.  While  reconnoitring  in  the  dark 
ness,  Jackson  was  fired  on  and  wounded  by  his 
own  men.  Pneumonia  setting  in,  he  died  eight 
days  afterwards,  with  these  last  words  on  his 
lips :  "  Let  us  cross  over  the  river,  and  rest  un 
der  the  shade  of  the  trees." 

In  the  mean  time  Sedgwick  had  taken  Freder- 
icksburg  and  was  marching  on  Lee's  rear.  The 
latter  turned  quickly  and  beat  him  back  across 
the  Rappahannock.  Here  was  Hooker's  oppor 
tunity,  but  he  did  not  realize  it.  By  the  time  his 
army  emerged  from  the  Wilderness,  on  May  i, 
Lee  was  back  and  ready  to  face  him.  After  a 
short  engagement  the  Federal  general  ordered 
his  regiments  to  fall  back,  much  to  the  disgust 
of  his  commanders.  They  had  reached  an  open 
country  in  which  fighting  was  possible.  "  My 
God !"  exclaimed  Meade ;  "  if  we  can't  hold  the 
top  of  the  hill,  we  certainly  cannot  hold  the  bot 
tom  of  it."  This  mistake  and  Jackson's  success 
in  flanking  settled  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville. 
Jackson's  command  devolved  upon  Stuart,  the 
famous  Confederate  cavalry  officer.  With  his 
men  uttering,  for  a  war-cry,  "  Remember  Jack 
son,"  he  seized  Hazel  Grove,  which  permitted  a 
concentration  of  the  whole  Confederate  force  in 
attack.  Generals  Sickles  and  Slocum  bore  the 
whole  brunt  of  this,  while  over  thirty  thousand 
troops  remained  idle,  a  fact  which  in  itself  indi- 


336  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

cates  that  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville  was  lost 
entirely  through  bad  generalship.  On  the  morn 
ing  of  May  6  the  entire  army  of  the  Potomac  had 
recrossed  the  Rappahannock.  The  Federal  loss 
in  this  battle  was  over  seventeen  thousand ;  that 
of  the  South  was  twelve  thousand  five  hundred. 

After  Fredericksburg  and  Chancellorsville  the 
South  was  led  to  think  that  her  cause  was  nearly 
won.  There  was  great  elation  among  the  Con 
federates.  The  authorities  thought  that  a  suc 
cessful  offensive  movement  would  quickly  bring 
the  North  to  terms.  Lee,  though  not  entirely 
convinced  of  the  wisdom  of  the  plan  proposed, 
yielded  to  the  pressure.  He  had  made  a  requi 
sition  for  rations.  The  South  could  supply  en 
thusiasm,  and  at  this  time  volunteers  and  drafted 
men  in  fair  numbers  were  forthcoming;  but 
sustenance  was  a  different  matter.  The  country 
was  drained  of  supplies.  The  commissary-gen 
eral  at  Richmond  wrote  on  Lee's  letter,  "  If 
General  Lee  wishes  rations,  let  him  seek  them 
in  Pennsylvania."  Lee  reorganized  his  army 
into  three  corps, — Longstreet  keeping  the  com 
mand  of  his  old  division;  Ewell  succeeded  Jack 
son;  and  A.  P.  Hill  was  appointed  to  the  com 
mand  of  the  third.  On  the  3d  of  June  this  army 
of  eighty  thousand  seasoned  and  well-armed 
troops  began  the  march  to  the  northward. 
Reconnoissances  in  the  direction  of  Culpeper 
brought  on  several  cavalry  engagements.  The 
chief  of  these,  and  what  was  probably  the 
greatest  cavalry  fight  of  the  war,  occurred  at 


APPROACHING  ! 


I   MUSTKELYUPOPi  THE  PEOPLE  FOR  THE 


VM)     HAVE 


CALLED  THE  MILITIA 


KH<    Til  IT    I'l  KPOSE. 


the  term  of  service  wiU  only  be  while  the  danger  to  the  State 
ia  imminent  l 

^  Send  forward  Companies 

AS  SOON  AS  POSSIBLE 

G.  CVRT1N. 


PLACARD    ISSUED    BY    GOVERNOR    CURTIN,    OF    PENNSYLVANIA, 

CALLING    FOR   VOLUNTEERS    FOR    THE    DEFENCE 

OF   THE   STATE,    JUNE,    1863 


LEE'S   INVASIONS  337 

Brandy  Station  on  the  8th.  In  this  the  Confed 
erates  were  successful,  and  the  principal  result 
was  the  effective  screening  of  Lee's  movements 
from  Federal  knowledge.  ^ 

On  the  1 3th  General  Ewell  marched  on  Win 
chester,  and,  on  the  following  day,  captured  the 
town  with  its  fortifications  in  brilliant  fashion. 
Lee's  line  was  now  drawn  out  to  a  length  of  one 
hundred  miles.  Lincoln,  by  this  time,  had 
learned  enough  of  the  trade  of  war  to  see  the 
opportunity.  He  wrote  to  Hooker,  "  If  the  head 
of  Lee's  army  is  at  Martinsburg,  and  the  tail  of 
it  on  the  plank  road  between  Fredericksburg  and 
Chancellorsville,  the  animal  must  be  very  slim 
somewhere.  Could  you  not  break  him?"  But 
instead,  Hooker  went  off  towards  Manassas. 
With  Stuart  and  his  cavalry  guarding  the  passes 
of  the  Blue  Ridge,  Lee  continued  his  advance, 
Hooker  following,  but  to  the  east,  in  order  to 
guard  Washington. 

On  the  27th  Lee  was  at  Chambersburg  with 
Longstreet  and  Hill's  corps,  while  Swell's  divi 
sion  was  yet  farther  north  at  Carlisle.  From  this 
latter  place  Ewell  sent  Early  to  capture  York. 
The  town  was  formally  surrendered  by  its  au 
thorities,  and  the  Confederates  used  their  ad 
vantage  to  clothe  themselves  at  the  merchants' 
expense. 

At  this  time  Halleck  and  Hooker  were  acri 
moniously  disputing.  Hooker  complained  that 
the  commanding  general  at  Washington  paid  no 
attention  to  his  requisitions;  and  Halleck  was 


338  THE   TRUE   CIVIL  WAR 

angry  because  Hooker  complained  over  his 
head.  There  is  no  question  that  the  general  in 
the  field  was  most  seriously  hampered  by  Hal- 
leek's  interference. 

On  the  28th  of  June  General  Hooker  wished 
to  operate  against  Lee's  rear  by  means  of  the 
garrison  at  Harper's  Ferry  reinforced  by  Slo- 
cum's  corps.  But  Halleck  refused  to  allow  him 
to  take  the  troops  from  Harper's  Ferry.  There 
upon  the  general  wrote  that  if  he  were  not  al 
lowed  to  manage  the  campaign  in  his  own  way 
he  preferred  to  be  relieved  from  the  command 
of  the  army.  He  was  relieved,  and  his  place 
filled  by  Major-General  George  G.  Meade.  At 
the  same  date  Lee  discovered  that  his  commu 
nication  with  Richmond  was  threatened  by  the 
Union  army  at  his  rear.  For  the  purpose  of  di 
verting  his  enemy,  Lee  proceeded  to  threaten 
Baltimore,  and  inaugurated  this  strategy  by 
moving  his  entire  army  on  Gettysburg. 

The  battle  of  Gettysburg  (July  i  to  3,  1863) 
was  not  premeditated.  Neither  Meade  nor  Lee 
was  looking  for  a  general  engagement.  But 
while  the  former's  cavalry,  under  Buford,  were 
reconnoitring  on  July  i,  they  came  in  contact 
with  Hill's  advance  corps  just  west  of  the  town. 
The  Federals  were  forced  back,  and  it  was  here 
that  General  Reynolds,  who  came  to  the  support 
of  Buford,  was  killed.  When  this  preliminary 
fighting  ceased  at  nightfall  the  advantage  was 
with  the  Confederates.  During  the  night  each 
side  brought  up  its  rear  forces  and  marshalled 


LEE'S   INVASIONS  339 

them  by  the  light  of  the  moon.  Lee  should  have 
begun  the  fighting  on  the  2d  at  sunrise,  but  for 
some  reason,  too  much  controverted  to  be  clear, 
it  was  delayed  until  the  afternoon.  By  this  time 
the  Federal  forces  had  taken  their  position  on 
Round  Top,  from  which  they  wrought  the 
greatest  devastation  on  the  Confederates. 

The  armies  now  facing  each  other  lay  along 
two  ranges  of  hills  to  the  south  of  the  town  of 
Gettysburg,  the  Federals  on  Cemetery  Ridge, 
and  the  Confederates  on  Seminary  Ridge.  The 
former  is  a  convex  and  the  latter  a  concave  line, 
giving  the  Union  army  a  much  better  vantage 
of  defence. 

Lee  began  the  attack  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
2d.  His  work  lay  directly  before  him;  it  was 
to  carry  Round  Top  and  plant  his  artillery  so  that 
it  would  rake  the  crest  of  Cemetery  Ridge.  The 
Confederates  gained  some  ground;  but  night 
came,  ending  a  tremendous  slaughter,  and  Meade 
still  held  his  position  intact. 

On  the  third  day  of  the  battle  Lee  again  de 
termined  to  charge  the  Federal  centre,  though 
much  against  Longstreet's  advice.  Meade's  First 
and  Eleventh  Corps  had  been  badly  used  up  on 
the  previous  day,  and  the  Federal  generals  were 
by  no  means  confident,  though  determined  "  to 
stay  and  fight  it  out."  Stuart's  cavalry  were  now 
on  the  field,  and  Lee  sent  them  around  to  attack 
the  Union  rear.  He  prepared  for  the  main 
attack,  under  Longstreet,  by  ordering  forward 
the  two  divisions  led  by  Pickett  and  Pettigrew. 


340  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

One  hundred  and  thirty-five  cannon  were  to  play 
on  the  Federal  centre.  Stuart,  however,  was 
met  by  Union  cavalry  under  Gregg  and  by  a 
brigade  under  Custer,  and  accomplished  noth 
ing.  Pickett's  charge  was  a  magnificent  exam 
ple  of  desperate  determination.  The  Union  bat 
teries  swept  the  ground  over  which  he  charged 
with  terrible  effect,  but  his  men  went  on.  They 
came  within  musketry  range.  Hancock  was  in 
command  of  the  Union  forces  at  this  position. 
His  infantry  met  the  charging  masses  with  a 
tempest  of  musketry  fire.  They  were  encour 
aged  by  the  brave  Hancock,  and  made  splendid 
resistance.  But  the  Confederate  advance  was  ir 
resistible.  Pickett's  troops  gained  the  ridge  and 
captured  the  guns.  Kemper  and  Armistead 
planted  their  banners  on  the  crest.  But  Petti- 
grew  had  not  been  able  to  lead  his  men  to  Pick 
ett's  support,  no  other  reinforcements  were  avail 
able,  and  the  latter  was  soon  overwhelmed  by 
numbers  and  compelled  to  retreat.  This  lost  the 
battle  for  Lee.  It  also  ended  the  invasion. 


XIV 
SHERMAN'S  MARCH 

LINCOLN'S  message  to  Congress  in  December, 
1863,  was  characterized  by  a  hopeful  and  confi 
dent  tone  which  would  hardly  have  found  a  har 
monious  response  in  the  heart  of  the  North  the 
year  before.  While  no  very  marked  progress 
had  been  made  in  forcing  the  recalcitrant  States 
to  obedience,  it  was  apparent  that  the  North 
could  and  would  continue  the  war  until  the  South 
had  passed  beneath  the  yoke.  Her  great  re 
sources  stood  by  her  in  sufficient  stead,  and  the 
South  was  being  worn  out.  It  was  like  a  battle 
between  a  giant  and  a  more  active,  perhaps  more 
scientific,  but  weaker  antagonist.  Unless  the 
smaller  combatant  could  early  deal  a  blow  that 
would  reach  a  vital  spot,  his  chances  of  victory 
were  slight.  Lee  had  failed  to  strike  such  a  blow. 
His  invasion  of  the  North  resulted  in  failure. 
While  so  far  the  South  had  waged  the  more 
brilliant  warfare  and  had  earned  the  greater 
honors,  she  was  becoming  exhausted,  and  the 
North  was  still  hammering  her  army  with  un 
abated  vigor. 

Lincoln  said : 

"  When  Congress  assembled  a  year  ago,  the  war  had 
already  lasted  nearly  twenty  months,  and  there  had  been 
many  conflicts  on  both  land  and  sea  with  varying  results. 


342  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

The  rebellion  had  been  pressed  back  into  reduced  limits; 
yet  the  tone  of  public  feeling  and  opinion,  at  home  and 
abroad,  was  not  satisfactory.  With  other  signs,  the  popular 
elections,  then  just  passed,  indicated  uneasiness  among  our 
selves,  while  amid  much  that  was  cold  and  menacing,  the 
kindest  words  coming  from  Europe  were  uttered  in  accents 
of  pity  that  we  were  too  blind  to  surrender  a  hopeless 
cause.  .  .  .  The  preliminary  Emancipation  Proclamation, 
issued  in  September,  was  running  its  assigned  period  to  the 
beginning  of  the  new  year.  A  month  later  the  final  procla 
mation  came,  including  the  announcement  that  colored  men 
of  suitable  condition  would  be  received  into  the  war  service. 
The  policy  of  emancipation  and  of  employing  black  soldiers 
gave  to  the  future  a  new  aspect,  about  which  hope  and  fear 
and  doubt  contended  in  uncertain  conflict.  Eleven  months 
having  now  passed,  we  are  permitted  to  take  another  review. 
The  rebel  borders  are  pressed  still  farther  back,  and,  by  the 
complete  opening  of  the  Mississippi,  the  country  dominated 
by  the  rebellion  is  divided  into  distinct  parts,  with  no  prac 
tical  communication  between  them.  Tennessee  and  Arkansas 
have  been  substantially  cleared  of  insurgent  control.  .  .  . 
Of  those  States  not  included  in  the  Emancipation  Proclama 
tion,  Maryland  and  Missouri,  neither  of  which,  three  years 
ago,  would  tolerate  any  restraint  upon  the  extension  of 
slavery  into  new  Territories,  only  dispute  now  as  to  the 
best  mode  of  removing  it  within  their  own  limits.  .  .  .  The 
crisis  which  threatened  to  divide  the  friends  of  the  Union 
is  past." 


Antislavery  feeling  had  made  an  immense  gain 
in  the  North.  The  abolitionists  had  won.  At  the 
firing  on  Sumter  Lincoln  could  not  have  raised 
an  army  worth  considering,  if  the  war  had  had 
as  its  avowed  object  the  extinction  of  slavery. 
Now  the  opinion  was  general  that  for  the  sake 
of  ending  the  war  it  was  expedient  to  destroy  the 
institution.  It  cannot,  however,  be  argued  that 
there  was  any  growing  love  of  the  negro.  His 


SHERMAN'S   MARCH  343 

emancipation  was  accepted  by  the  majority  as 
an  expedient,  right  in  itself,  but  of  questionable 
constitutionality. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  situation  of  affairs  for 
gotten  by,  if  not  unknown  to,  the  present 
generation,  must  be  noted.  The  United  States 
prisons  were  full  of  political  prisoners.  For 
the  expression  of  opinions  condemnatory  of  the 
action  of  the  United  States  government,  men 
were  being  arrested  without  judicial  warrant  and 
incarcerated  without  trial  by  jury.  Free  speech 
was  prohibited.  Freedom  of  thought  was  de 
barred  of  expression.  Even  the  right  of  being 
represented  by  counsel,  which  is  guaranteed  by 
the  Constitution,  was  denied  these  "  political 
prisoners."  The  Habeas  Corpus  Act  was  in  op 
eration.  The  North  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
despotism  of  expediency. 

Yet  the  whole  heart  of  the  North  was  very  far 
from  being  with  the  administration.  The  minor 
ity  was  becoming  more  active  and  insistent,  de 
spite  repression  and  persecution.  This  fact  is 
substantiated  by  the  continued  falling  off  of  the 
supply  of  volunteers.  Enthusiasm  for  military 
service  became  less  and  less.  It  had  been  most 
fearfully  demonstrated  that  war  was  an  unhealth- 
ful  business.  Moreover,  the  supplying  of  the 
needs  of  the  army  and  the  depletion  of  the  ranks 
of  industry  by  the  thousands  who  were  enlisted 
gave  unusual  opportunities  for  gain  to  those 
who  remained  at  home.  Even  the  conscription, 
of  itself,  was  not  sufficient  to  bring  out  the 


344  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

requisite  number  of  men.  Experience  had  de 
monstrated  the  hatred  of  the  people  towards  the 
expedient,  and  therefore  it  was  not  deemed  ad 
visable  to  enforce  it  with  overmuch  rigor,  for  fear 
that  opposition  and  agitation  might  reduce  Re 
publican  majorities.  The  expedient  of  bounties 
was  resorted  to.  The  government,  the  State, 
and  the  country,  offered  bounties ;  the  aggregate 
obtainable  by  a  bounty  man  was  frequently  six 
or  seven  hundred  dollars,  sometimes  much  more. 
This,  of  course,  was  a  bonus  in  addition  to  the 
regular  soldier's  pay.  The  system  had  a  vicious 
effect.  It  created  a  new  criminal  industry, — 
namely,  that  of  "  bounty  jumping."  It  attracted, 
from  the  lowest  moral  strata,  men  who  would 
enlist  to  obtain  the  bounty,  take  the  first  oppor 
tunity  to  desert,  and  forthwith  repeat  the  per 
formance  in  some  other  part  of  the  country.  One 
man  confessed  to  jumping  the  bounty  thirty-two 
times.  There  were  also  brokers  who  made  a 
lucrative  business  of  supplying  such  recruits,  and 
also  substitutes  for  drafted  men  unwilling  to  go 
to  war  and  able  to  escape  service  by  purchasing 
exemption  through  a  man  engaged  to  take  their 
place. 

Nevertheless,  the  efficiency  of  the  Northern 
army  was  greatly  improved.  The  veterans  had 
received  the  best  possible  training.  The  lesson 
had  been  learned  that  the  war  could  not  be  won 
with  officers  whose  chief  qualifications  consisted 
in  their  political  connections.  Gradually  there 
had  come  to  the  fore  a  set  of  generals  who  were 


SHERMAN'S   MARCH  345 

not  only  skilled  in  the  science  of  warfare,  but 
whose  achievements  warranted  the  trust  reposed 
in  them.  The  administration  ceased  to  interfere 
with  them.  This  was  true  of  both  sides.  Grant 
was  opposed  by  Lee;  Sherman  was  matched  by 
Johnston,  who  had  succeeded  Bragg.  Sheridan, 
in  command  of  the  army  in  the  Shenandoah,  had 
his  rival  in  Early. 

At  last  the  right  man  had  been  found  to  take 
supreme  command  of  the  Union  forces.  On  Feb 
ruary  29,  1864,  Congress  revived  the  rank  of 
lieutenant-general;  and  the  President,  who  had 
been  empowered  to  confer  that  rank  on  whom 
he  would  and  during  his  pleasure,  at  once 
named  Grant.  The  conqueror  of  Vicksburg 
was  thought  to  be  the  only  man  who  could  save 
the  Union  cause.  Lincoln  said  to  him : 

"  The  nation's  appreciation  of  what  you  have  done,  and 
its  reliance  upon  you  for  what  remains  to  be  done  in  the 
existing  great  struggle,  are  now  presented,  with  this  com 
mission  constituting  you  lieutenant-general  in  the  army  of 
the  United  States.  With  this  high  honor  devolves  upon  you 
also  a  corresponding  responsibility.  As  the  country  herein 
trusts  you,  so,  under  God,  it  will  sustain  you.  I  scarcely 
need  to  add  that  with  what  I  here  speak  for  the  nation  goes 
my  own  hearty  personal  concurrence." 

It  was  a  plain,  honest,  able  man  calling  to 
his  side  a  man  equally  unostentatious,  able,  and 
sincere.  With  Grant  there  were  no  brass  and 
feathers.  He  cared  nothing  whatever  for  the 
dignity  of  office.  His  whole  thought  was  for  the 
best  way  of  doing  the  work  before  him.  He  is 
described  at  the  time  as  having  "  rather  the  look 


346  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

of  a  man  who  did,  or  once  did,  take  a  little  too 
much  to  drink.  But  the  ordinary,  scrubby-look 
ing  man,  with  the  slightly  seedy  look,  as  if  he  was 
out  of  office  and  on  half-pay,  and  nothing  to  do 
but  hang  round  the  entry  of  Willard's,  cigar  in 
mouth,  had  a  clear  blue  eye  and  a  look  of  resolu 
tion,  as  if  he  could  not  be  trifled  with,  and  an 
entire  indifference  to  the  crowd  about  him." 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  at  this  time  the 
unassuming  lieutenant-general  had  much  more 
of  the  confidence  of  the  people  than  had  the 
President  who  appointed  him.  But  then  many 
men  had  discovered  by  experience  that  it  was  a 
terrific  task  to  command  the  armies,  but  every 
one  still  had  liberty  to  think  he  could  better  fill 
the  Presidency  than  did  Lincoln.  Chase  was 
seeking,  by  every  means,  to  undermine  his  chief's 
prospects  in  order  that  his  own  might  be  secured. 
He  coveted  the  highest  magisterial  office  of  the 
Union.  When  Lincoln  was  compelled  so  to  act 
that  certain  persons  were  disappointed  or  of 
fended,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  took  pains 
to  let  it  be  known  that  he  would  have  done  other 
wise.  He  had  an  influential  following,  and  con 
sented  to  allow  his  name  to  be  presented  to  the 
people.  The  people,  however,  had  no  use  for  it. 
Nothing  more  strikingly  shows  the  patriotic 
magnanimity  of  Lincoln  than  the  way  in  which 
he  endured  Chase's  thwartings  and  annoyances, 
simply  because  the  President  thought  that  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  the  best  available 
man  for  the  office. 


SHERMAN'S   MARCH  347 

If  Lincoln,  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  year 
of  the  war,  saw  reasons  for  hope  and  confidence, 
the  South  also  was  no  less  encouraged.  Her 
people,  despite  the  fearful  drain  upon  her  re 
sources  and  the  terrific  punishment  she  had  re 
ceived,  still  believed  in  the  certainty  of  establish 
ing  their  independence.  The  late  successes  had 
been  mostly  in  favor  of  the  Confederacy.  The 
Union  arms  had  in  reality  achieved  but  little  ex 
cept  in  the  way  of  wearing  out  the  South  in  a  test 
of  endurance.  Banks  had  proposed  the  conquest 
of  the  Trans-Mississippi;  it  had  resulted  in  the 
Red  River  campaigns,  in  which  the  Confederacy 
gained  the  distinct  advantage.  Sherman  had 
said  of  his  army,  with  which  he  had  expected  to 
do  great  things  in  the  Southwest,  half  "  went  to 
Memphis  and  half  went  to  hell."  The  Mississippi 
was  not  secure  to  the  Federalists  with  Forrest 
and  his  Confederate  troops  ravaging  its  shores. 
The  opinion  at  Richmond  was  that  this  would  be 
the  last  year  of  the  war.  If  the  Confederacy 
could  withstand  the  grand  attack  now  to  be 
made,  it  was  believed  that  the  North  would  be 
forced  by  the  intervention  of  Europe  to  desist  in 
her  attempt  to  coerce,  if  not  through  sheer  in 
ability  to  maintain  the  offensive. 

Grant's  campaign,  destined  completely  to 
overthrow  the  hope  of  the  South,  was  planned 
with  the  extreme  simplicity  which  pertained  to 
the  man.  Lee's  army  was  between  him  and 
Richmond,  the  front  of  the  rebellion.  He  would 
attack  Richmond,  and  either  capture  or  demolish 


348  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

it.  In  the  mean  time  a  fatal  stroke  might  be 
given  the  enemy  by  an  expedition  led  by  Sher 
man  to  Atlanta  and  the  Southern  seaboard.  In 
this  would  be  encountered  Johnston's  army, 
which  Sherman  must  either  capture  or  destroy. 
By  May  5,  1864,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  had 
crossed  the  Rapidan  and  was  encamped  in  the 
Wilderness.  Its  site  was  of  evil  augury  to  the 
North,  since  Hooker  had  met  his  disaster  there. 
Grant  did  not  desire  to  risk  an  engagement  here ; 
but  Lee,  knowing  the  ground  to  be  extremely 
unfavorable  for  defence,  decided  on  pushing  the 
attack.  Grant  saw  that  it  would  be  necessary  to 
fight  his  way  out  of  this  perilous  position.  Lee 
began  the  attack  in  the  morning,  and  the  battle 
raged  all  day.  There  were  times  when  each  side 
seemed  inclined  to  take  panic  and  run.  But  at 
night,  when  the  struggle  was  ended,  it  was  found 
that  the  Union  army  had  suffered  by  far  the 
greater  loss  in  men  and  had  gained  no  advan 
tage  ;  in  fact,  the  honors  of  the  day,  though  both 
sides  had  fought  with  great  vigor  and  bravery, 
rested  with  the  Confederates.  A  correspondent 
of  the  London  Herald  wrote  from  the  scene : 

"  The  results  to  the  enemy  in  some  parts  of  the  field 
cannot  be  described  by  any  word  less  forcible  than  mas 
sacre." 

He  estimated  that  the  Federal  killed  could  be 
positively  shown  to  be  not  less  than  three  thou 
sand.  Probably  Grant  lost  in  the  Wilderness,  in 
killed,  wounded,  prisoners,  and  missing,  not  far 
from  thirty  thousand  men. 


SHERMAN'S   MARCH  349 

Grant  now  turned  towards  Richmond  by  way 
of  Spottsylvania,  where  Lee,  with  his  usual  saga 
city,  anticipated  him.  Desultory  fighting  con 
tinued  for  several  days.  It  was  at  this  time — in 
fact,  May  1 1 — that  Grant  wrote  to  Halleck :  "  I 
propose  to  fight  it  out  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all 
summer."  It  was  an  expensive  line,  and  one 
Grant  was  unable  to  follow  directly,  but  it  was 
the  only  course  to  decisive  victory.  It  meant 
defeat  by  attrition,  and  the  Union  army  was 
able  to  last  the  longer  and  thus  conquer  in  the 
end. 

On  the  1 7th  the  principal  battle  of  the  ten 
days'  fighting  in  the  Wilderness,  that  of  Spottsyl 
vania,  was  waged.  The  Federals  attacked  an 
angle  of  earthworks  held  by  the  Confederates. 
It  was  a  surprise,  and  resulted  in  the  capture  of 
the  works  and  nearly  the  whole  of  a  division 
commanded  by  General  Johnson.  It  was  here 
that  General  Lee  gave  such  a  marked  exhibition 
of  his  devotion  as  well  as  personal  courage. 
When  the  Confederates  were  on  the  point  of 
suffering  a  complete  disaster,  Lee  rode  in  front 
of  the  line,  and  there,  in  the  midst  of  the  battle, 
sat  bareheaded  on  his  horse,  an  example  of 
dauntlessness  to  the  troops.  These  shouted, 
"  Go  back,  General  Lee ;  go  back !"  and  as  his 
horse  was  being  led  to  the  rear,  they  went  to 
the  charge  with  courage  that  could  not  be  with 
stood. 

With  Grant  now  started  on  that  wholesale  life- 
sacrificing  campaign  which  was  to  end  at  Appo- 


3So  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

mattox,  and  which  we  will  study  in  a  later  chap 
ter,  we  will  turn  to  Sherman,  who  was  getting 
his  army  in  shape  for  his  memorable  expedition 
through  Georgia.  Sherman's  task  was  no  less 
difficult  than  that  of  Grant.  It  required  that  he 
swing  away  from  his  base  and  practically  aban 
don  any  attempt  at  keeping  open  a  line  of  com 
munication.  Moreover,  it  was  necessary  that  he 
traverse  a  wild  country  which  was  admirably 
adapted  to  the  concealment  and  protection  of  the 
enemy.  Before  entering  upon  this  decisive  cam 
paign,  however,  Sherman  made  an  expedition 
against  Meridian  in  Mississippi  and  Selma  in  Ala 
bama,  in  order  to  destroy  the  means  of  transpor 
tation  in  the  centre  of  the  Confederacy.  Here 
Polk  was  in  command  of  about  twenty  thousand 
troops,  the  cavalry  being  under  the  command  of 
Forrest.  Meridian  was  destroyed,  in  accordance 
with  Sherman's  programme,  with  little  resist 
ance.  Forrest  then,  after  an  unsuccessful  inva 
sion  of  Kentucky,  made  an  attack  upon  Fort 
Pillow.  This  was  defended  by  Majors  Booth  and 
Bradford  and  about  five  hundred  men,  half  of 
whom  were  negroes.  Forrest  demanded  a  sur 
render,  which  was  refused.  He  then  carried  the 
fort  by  storm.  No  quarter  was  given.  The 
slaughter  approached  a  massacre.  A  few  of  the 
garrison  escaped  to  the  Federal  gunboats  in  the 
Mississippi. 

After  sending  Generals  Banks  and  A.  J.  Smith 
to  the  west  of  the  lower  Mississippi  on  an  expe 
dition  which  ended  disastrously,  they  being  de- 


SHERMAN'S   MARCH  351 

feated  by  Generals  Kirby  Smith  and  Richard 
Taylor  with  an  inferior  force,  Sherman  set  about 
the  great  Georgian  campaign.  His  army  of 
nearly  ninety-nine  thousand  men  was  thus  organ 
ized:  The  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  under 
Major-General  Thomas ;  the  Army  of  Tennessee, 
commanded  by  McPherson;  the  Army  of  the 
Ohio,  •  under  Schofield.  Against  this  invasion 
Johnston  could  muster  thirty-six  thousand  infan 
try  and  artillery  and  less  than  seven  thousand 
cavalry.  The  disproportion  was  great,  but  was 
in  a  measure  counterbalanced  by  the  fact  that  the 
Southern  force  was  upon  the  defensive. 
Sherman  telegraphed : 

"  We  intend  to  fight  Joseph  Johnston  until  he  is  satisfied, 
and  I  hope  he  will  not  attempt  to  escape.  If  he  does,  my 
bridges  are  down  and  we  will  be  after  him." 

Johnston  had  no  intention  of  attempting  to 
escape ;  he  was  there  to  dispute  every  inch  of  the 
way.  But  he  did  not,  like  Lee,  court  a  general 
engagement.  The  Confederate  army  was  in 
trenched  at  Dalton,  but,  rinding  that  Sherman 
was  seeking  to  turn  his  position  by  marching  on 
Resaca,  Johnston  evacuated  Dalton  on  the  I2th. 
The  Confederate  commander  had  a  wholesome 
respect  for  Northern  soldiers.  He  had  had  ex 
periences  with  them,  both  as  their  leader  and  as 
their  enemy;  and,  as  he  himself  declares,  the 
estimation  in  which  they  were  held  by  Southern 
editors  and  political  speakers  was  not  sufficiently 
well  founded  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  judg- 


352  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

ment  as  to  how  and  when  it  would  be  well  to 
give  battle.  He  therefore  confined  his  operations 
to  skirmishing  and  protecting  his  communica 
tions.  On  May  20  Sherman  held  a  line  of  ad 
vance  which  extended  through  Rome,  Kingston, 
and  Cassville,  running  east  and  west.  Johnston 
was  disposed  to  hazard  an  engagement,  believing 
that  a  favorable  opportunity  was  presented.  But 
Generals  Polk  and  Hood  expressing  their  convic 
tion  that  neither  of  them  could  hold  his  position, 
Johnston,  knowing  that  this  discouragement 
would  communicate  itself  to  the  men,  abandoned 
the  project.  He  later  confessed  his  error  in 
giving  way  to  the  judgment  of  his  generals. 

Sherman  was  now  within  fifty  miles  of  Atlanta. 
So  long  as  he  could  keep  the  enemy  before  him, 
he  was  secure.  He  wrote : 

"  The  long  and  single  line  of  railroad  to  my  rear  is  the 
delicate  point  of  my  game,  as  also  the  fact  that  all  of  Geor 
gia,  except  the  cleared  bottoms,  is  densely  wooded,  with 
few  roads,  and  at  any  point  an  enterprising  enemy  can,  in 
a  few  hours,  with  axes  and  spades,  make  across  our  path 
formidable  works,  whilst  his  sharp-shooters,  spies,  and 
scouts,  in  the  guise  of  peaceable  farmers,  can  hang  around 
us  and  kill  our  wagon  men,  messengers,  and  couriers.  It 
is  a  big  Indian  war;  still  thus  far  I  have  won  four  strong 
positions,  advanced  a  hundred  miles,  and  am  in  possession 
of  a  large  wheat-growing  region  and  all  the  iron-mines  and 
works  of  Georgia." 

On  May  25  Sherman  left  the  line  of  railroad, 
not  desiring  to  contend  the  strong  position  at 
Allatoona  Pass.  He  bore  to  the  east,  and  Hook 
er's  division  came  in  contact  with  the  Confed 
erates  the  two  following  days.  But  Sherman 


SHERMAN'S   MARCH  353 

made  the  detour  and  again  reached  the  railroad 
at  Allatoona.  Johnston  did  no  more  than  re 
tard  the  Federal  movement;  though  he  made 
a  gallant  resistance,  Sherman  slowly  but  surely 
pressed  on.  A  detailed  history  of  these  manoeu 
vres  for  position  is  of  interest  only  to  the  military 
strategist  and  those  who  still  wish  to  refresh 
their  memories  of  personal  experiences. 

On  the  1 3th  of  June  occurred  one  event  which 
was  a  great  loss  to  the  Confederate  cause.  This 
was  the  death  of  Lieutenant-General  Polk,  who 
combined  the  qualities  (rarely  related  in  modern 
times)  of  an  eminent  bishop  and  a  gallant  soldier. 
This  happened  at  Pine  Hill,  where  he  had  gone 
with  a  small  reconnoitring  party.  As  they  stood 
together,  a  good  mark  was  presented  for  a  Fed 
eral  battery  distant  some  six  or  seven  hundred 
yards.  The  third  shot  passed  through  General 
Folk's  chest. 

Sherman's  despatch  of  June  23  gives  a  good 
idea  of  the  nature  of  the  fighting  which  was 
going  on. 

"  Our  lines  are  now  in  close  contact,  and  the  fighting  in 
cessant,  with  a  good  deal  of  artillery.  As  fast  as  we  gain 
one  position  the  enemy  has  another  all  ready,  but  I  think 
he  will  soon  have  to  let  go  Kenesaw,  which  is  the  key  to  the 
whole  country.  The  weather  is  now  better,  and  the  roads 
are  drying  up  fast.  Our  losses  are  light,  and,  notwithstand 
ing  the  repeated  breaks  of  the  road  in  our  rear,  supplies  are 
ample." 

It  was  a  continual  sparring,  with  Johnston  con 
stantly  but  with  dogged  slowness  falling  back. 

23 


354  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

Sherman's  policy  was  not  to  risk  a  general  en 
gagement.  He  preferred  saving  his  men  by 
a  slow,  zigzag  progress,  to  risking  the  direct 
attack.  He  departed  from  his  method,  however, 
at  Kenesaw  Mountain,  and  thereby  proved  the 
wisdom  of  the  other  course.  He  ordered  the 
attack  on  the  morning  of  June  27.  It  was  re 
pulsed  at  every  part  of  the  Confederate  line. 
The  Federal  troops  held  to  the  assault  with  cour 
age  and  tenacity,  and  in  consequence  suffered 
great  and  disproportionate  loss.  Many  were 
found  dead,  lying  against  the  Confederate  breast 
works,  thus  showing  the  spirit  in  which  the  as 
sault  had  been  made.  Reports  show  that  while 
the  Southerners  lost  only  eight  hundred,  Sher 
man's  loss  was  not  far  from  three  thousand. 
Sherman,  confessing  it  was  a  failure,  said,  "  I  yet 
claim  it  produced  good  fruits,  as  it  demonstrated 
to  General  Johnston  that  I  would  assault,  and 
that  boldly." 

General  Thomas,  however,  did  not  consider 
such  game  as  this  worth  playing.  When  asked 
by  his  chief,  "  Are  you  willing  to  risk  the  move 
on  Dalton,  cutting  loose  from  our  railroad?"  he 
replied,  "  If  with  the  greater  part  of  the  army, 
I  think  it  decidedly  better  than  butting  against 
breastworks  twelve  feet  thick  and  strongly 
abatised." 

Sherman  had  no  great  opinion  of  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland.  He  complained  of  it  as 
being  too  slow,  and  that  Thomas  did  not  seem 
to  realize  that  the  work  of  the  Federal  army 


SHERMAN'S   MARCH  355 

was  offensive  rather  than  defensive.  He  said 
of  Thomas's  division :  "  A  fresh  furrow  in  a 
ploughed  field  will  stop  the  whole  column,  and  all 
begin  to  intrench."  After  the  defeat  at  Kenesaw, 
he  again  resorted  to  manoeuvring,  and,  turning 
to  the  right,  took  possession  of  the  Chattahoo- 
chee  River.  He  was  now  within  eight  miles  of 
Atlanta. 

The  South  was  greatly  disappointed  at  John 
ston's  falling  back  to  Atlanta  and  thus  surren 
dering  a  large  and  rich  part  of  Georgia.  But, 
though  constantly  on  the  retreat,  the  Confeder 
ates  had  not  waged  an  unsuccessful  warfare.  It 
had  been,  in  fact,  a  brilliant  example  of  general 
ship,  providing  it  be  conceded  that  Johnston's 
policy  of  not  giving  a  general  engagement  was 
the  true  one.  He  had  inflicted  great  losses  on 
his  enemy,  probably  five  times  as  many  as  his 
own.  He  thus  justifies  his  policy: 

"  At  Dalton  the  great  numerical  superiority  of  the  enemy 
made  the  chances  of  battle  much  against  us ;  and,  even  if 
beaten,  they  had  a  safe  refuge  behind  the  fortified  pass 
of  Ringgold  and  in  the  fortress  of  Chattanooga.  Our  refuge, 
in  case  of  defeat,  was  in  Atlanta,  one  hundred  miles  off, 
with  three  rivers  intervening.  Therefore,  victory  for  us 
could  have  been  indecisive,  while  defeat  would  have  been 
utterly  disastrous.  Between  Dalton  and  the  Chattahoochee 
we  could  have  given  battle  only  by  attacking  the  enemy 
intrenched,  or  so  near  intrenchments  that  the  only  result  of 
success  to  us  would  have  been  his  falling  into  them ;  while 
defeat  would  have  been  our  ruin." 

There  was  now  a  lull  in  the  campaigns,  both 
that  which  we  have  been  following  and  Grant's 


356  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

in  Virginia.  The  interest  in  the  North  was 
largely  taken  with  the  approaching  Presidential 
election.  The  question  of  the  hour  was :  Had  the 
people  enough  confidence  in  the  Illinois  "  rail- 
splitter"  to  continue  him  in  his  position  of  tre 
mendous  responsibility?  Opinions  differed. 
James  Russell  Lowell  asked  what  would  have 
been  the  condition  of  affairs  had  a  weak  or  un 
wise  man  been  elected  in  his  stead.  Yet  there 
were  many  men  of  influence  who,  perhaps  con 
scientiously,  hoped  to  defeat  Lincoln's  nomi 
nation.  There  was  a  scheme  to  postpone  the 
convention.  Greeley  was  distinctly  opposed  to 
Lincoln.  He  thought  that  Fremont,  Butler,  or 
Grant  would  do  as  well.  Much  was  made  by  him 
and  others  of  the  custom,  which  had  for  years 
prevailed,  of  restricting  the  Presidency  to  one 
term.  At  this  late  date,  the  idea  of  preferring 
Fremont  or  Butler  to  Lincoln  seems  too  ridicu 
lous  to  be  possible.  But  a  man  is  never  judged 
as  a  whole  in  his  own  time.  He  is  estimated  by 
the  last  happening  which  may  be  laid  to  his  re 
sponsibility.  The  Union  arms  had  not  given  the 
satisfaction  which  the  North  had  anticipated,  and 
the  failures  were  laid  at  Lincoln's  door.  Said  an 
editor  to  Thaddeus  Stevens,  "  Introduce  me  to 
some  member  of  Congress  friendly  to  Mr.  Lin 
coln's  renomination."  Stevens  went  to  Arnold, 
of  Chicago,  a  close  friend  of  the  President,  and 
said,  "  Here  is  a -man  who  wants  to  find  a  Lincoln 
member  of  Congress.  You  are  the  only  one  I 
know,  and  I  have  come  over  to  introduce  my 


SHERMAN'S   MARCH  357 

friend  to  you."  This  was,  of  course,  an  exag 
geration;  but  the  fact  that  such  a  thing  could 
happen  indicates  the  strength  of  the  opposition 
to  Lincoln. 

A  convention  consisting  of  a  few  hundred  men 
gathered  at  Cleveland,  May  31,  1864,  an<3  nomi 
nated  Fremont  for  the  Presidency,  and  John 
Cochrane,  of  New  York,  for  the  Vice-Presidency. 
Lincoln  turned  the  whole  proceedings  to  ridicule, 
and  furnished  a  new  political  metaphor  by  read 
ing  from  the  Bible  to  his  friends  the  following 
incident  from  the  life  of  David : 

"  And  every  one  that  was  in  distress,  and  every  one  that 
was  discontented,  gathered  themselves  unto  him ;  and  he 
became  a  captain  over  them :  and  there  were  with  him  about 
four  hundred  men." 

At  this  time  the  mind  of  the  North  was  not 
decided  as  to  whether  her  arms  were  meeting 
success  or  defeat.  True,  Grant  was  winning  bat 
tles  ;  but  at  what  cost !  Chase  said : 

"The  people  are  crazy,  or  I  am.  I  don't  see  the  recent 
military  successes.  Most  earnestly  do  I  pray  that  we  may 
see  them  hereafter.  All,  under  God,  depends  on  Grant.  So 
far  he  has  achieved  very  little,  and  that  little  has  cost  beyond 
computation.  Still,  my  hope  is  in  him.  He  seems  the  ablest 
and  most  persistent  man  we  have.  Sherman  has  done  well 
and  apparently  more  than  Grant," 

Serious  as  were  the  trials  of  the  North  at  this 
time,  there  were  those  who  were  willing  to  take 
advantage  of  public  depression  for  stock-jobbing 
exploits.  On  May  18  a  bogus  proclamation  was 
published  which  caused  great,  though  brief,  con- 


358  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

sternation.  It  was  a  clever  forgery  which  pur 
ported  to  come  from  Lincoln,  and  appointed  a 
day  for  humiliation,  fasting,  and  prayer, — an  ac 
knowledgment,  on  the  part  of  the  administration, 
of  Grant's  failure.  It  was  published  in  two  Dem 
ocratic  papers,  the  Journal  of  Commerce  and  the 
New  York  World.  Though,  on  discovering  the 
fact  that  it  was  a  canard,  the  editors  endeavored 
to  rectify  their  mistake,  by  order  of  the  President 
they  were  arrested  and  their  journals  suppressed 
under  military  authority. 

In  the  mean  time  some  efforts  were  being  put 
forth  to  bring  about  an  understanding  as  to  the 
basis  upon  which  negotiations  for  peace  might 
be  carried  on.  Early  in  the  summer  a  manifesto 
was  published  by  the  Confederate  Congress,  set 
ting  forth  the  demands  of  the  Confederacy.  It 
had  not  receded  from  its  position  held  before  the 
war,  except  that  now  there  was  no  express  men 
tion  of  slavery  in  the  Territories.  Immunity 
from  internal  interference  must  be  insured. 

"  Let  them  forbear  aggressions  upon  us,  and  the  war  is  at 
an  end.  If  there  be  questions  which  require  adjustment  by 
negotiations,  we  have  ever  been  willing,  and  are  still  willing, 
to  enter  into  communication  with  our  adversaries  in  a  spirit 
of  peace,  of  equity,  and  manly  frankness." 

In  1863  Vice-President  Stephens  offered  his 
services  as  a  commissioner,  and  attempted  to 
make  the  journey  to  Washington;  but  the  au 
thorities  there  refused  to  allow  him  to  pass  their 
lines  or  to  hold  any  sort  of  communication  with 
them.  In  July,  1864,  Messrs.  C.  C.  Clay  and 


SHERMAN'S    MARCH  359 

Jacob  Thompson  were  at  Niagara  Falls,  whence 
they  sent  a  letter  to  Horace  Greeley,  soliciting  a 
safe-conduct  to  Washington,  where,  as  Southern 
commissioners,  they  were  to  endeavor  to  ascer 
tain  on  what  basis,  if  any,  peace  could  be  nego 
tiated.  Lincoln  contented  himself  with  replying 
"  to  whom  it  may  concern"  that  the  Union  and 
the  complete  abolition  of  slavery  were  the  sine 
qua  non  of  peace.  It  is  said  that  Lee  cloaked 
any  interest  he  might  have  had  in  this  letter  with 
the  remark  that  it  concerned  no  one.  Many 
Northern  newspapers  were  discussing  the  possi 
bility  of  ending  the  war  by  an  agreement,  and 
many  held  that  it  could  and  ought  to  be  done. 
The  Tribune  said : 

"We  feel  certain  that  two-thirds  of  the  American  people 
on  either  side  of  the  dividing  line  anxiously,  absorbingly, 
desire  peace,  and  are  ready  to  make  all  needful  sacrifices  to 
secure  it.  Then  why  shall  it  be  long  withheld?  Let  us 
know,  as  soon  as  may  be,  the  most  that  the  rebel  chiefs  will 
do  to  secure  peace ;  let  us  know  what  is  the  '  ultimatum' 
on  our  side.  We  have  no  sympathy  with  the  shuddering 
dread  that  our  government  may,  by  listening  to  propositions 
from  the  rebels,  virtually  acknowledge  their  independence. 
Etiquette  is  the  disease  of  little  minds,  great  souls  are  never 
troubled  by  it." 

But  the  Union  authorities  never  could  bring 
themselves  to  treat  with  the  Confederacy  openly 
and  above  board,  although  the  Jaquess-Gilmore 
Peace  Mission  was  tacitly  though  unofficially 
recognized  by  the  Federal  administration. 

On  the  2Qth  of  August  the  Democratic  Con 
vention  met  at  Chicago.     August   Belmont,  in 


360  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

calling  the  Convention  to  order,  said  that  "  four 
years  of  misrule  by  a  sectional,  fanatical,  and  cor 
rupt  party  had  brought  our  country  to  the  verge 
of  ruin.  The  past  and  present  are  sufficient 
warnings  of  the  disastrous  consequence  which 
would  befall  us  if  Mr.  Lincoln's  re-election  should 
be  made  possible  by  our  want  of  patriotism  and 
unity."  Horatio  Seymour,  governor  of  New 
York,  and  the  permanent  chairman  of  the  con 
vention,  said : 

"  They  [the  party  in  power]  were  animated  by  intolerance 
and  fanaticism,  and  blinded  by  an  ignorance  of  the  spirit  of 
our  institutions,  the  character  of  our  people,  and  the  condi 
tion  of  our  land.  Step  by  step  they  have  marched  on  to 
results  from  which  at  the  onset  they  would  have  shrunk  with 
horror;  and  even  now,  when  war  has  desolated  our  land, 
has  laid  its  heavy  burden  upon  labor,  and  when  bankruptcy 
and  ruin  overhang  us,  they  will  not  have  the  Union  restored 
unless  upon  conditions  unknown  to  the  Constitution.  .  .  . 
They  will  not  even  listen  to  a  proposal  for  peace  which  does 
not  offer  what  this  government  has  no  right  to  ask." 

The  platform  adopted  was  similar  in  its  pur 
port.  Seymour  would  have  been  the  nominee 
had  he  not  emphatically  refused  to  allow  his 
name  to  be  used.  The  choice  fell  on  George  B. 
McClellan,  who  met  with  little  opposition. 

The  Republican  Convention  had  met  at  Balti 
more,  June  7.  Lincoln,  whose  nomination  had 
for  some  time  been  practically  certain,  explained 
the  confidence  of  his  party  thus : 

"  I  do  not  allow  myself  to  suppose  that  either  the  conven 
tion  or  the  league  have  concluded  to  decide  that  I  am  either 
the  greatest  or  best  man  in  America,  but  rather  they  have 


SHERMAN'S   MARCH  361 

concluded  it  is  not  best  to  swop  horses  while  crossing  the 
river,  and  have  further  concluded  that  I  am  not  so  poor  a 
horse  that  they  might  not  make  a  botch  of  it  in  trying  to 
swop." 

Andrew  Johnson  was  nominated  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency  by  the  Republican  party,  though  he 
was  a  Democrat  and  a  Southerner,  because,  like 
many  others  in  East  Tennessee,  he  supported  the 
Union  and  had  a  peculiar  and  strong  following 
whose  support  was  earnestly  desired  by  the  man 
agers  of  the  Republican  campaign. 

Farragut's  brilliant  victory  in  Mobile  Bay  con 
tributed  immensely  to  the  restored  confidence  of 
the  people  in  the  present  administration.  It  was 
a  direct  contradiction  of  the  popular  abbreviation 
of  the  Democratic  platform :  "  Resolved,  the  war 
is  a  failure."  From  the  beginning  Mobile  had 
been  a  source  of  trouble  to  the  Federal  govern 
ment,  in  that  it  afforded  especially  favorable 
facilities  for  blockade-runners.  The  Confederate 
authorities  knew  that  sooner  or  later  it  would  be 
made  the  point  of  a  determined  attack,  therefore 
they  brought  the  defences  up  to  the  highest  pos 
sible  state  of  perfection. 

It  was  on  August  5,  1864,  that  Farragut  de 
termined  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  fortress  and 
enter  the  torpedo-protected  harbor.  In  a  letter 
written  just  before  the  battle  he  said,  "  I  am 
going  into  Mobile  Bay  in  the  morning  if  '  God 
is  my  leader/  as  I  hope  he  is."  It  was  a  terrific 
fight.  The  ironclad  "  Tecumseh"  went  ahead  to 
grapple  with  the  formidable  ram  "  Tennessee," 


362  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

but  before  the  duel  had  fairly  begun  the  Union 
men  saw  their  best  ship  throw  her  stern  out  of 
the  water  and  plunge  bow  foremost  to  the  bot 
tom.  She  had  been  blown  up  by  a  torpedo.  For 
a  while  the  fate  of  the  battle  hung  in  the  balance. 
The  Federal  ships  were  huddled  before  Fort 
Morgan  and  were  being  raked  with  deadly  effect. 
The  flagship  "  Hartford"  could  not  go  on 
because  the  "  Brooklyn"  lay  in  her  way.  "  Tell 
the  admiral  there  is  a  heavy  line  of  torpedoes 
ahead,"  signalled  the  latter.  "  Damn  the  tor 
pedoes!"  shouted  Farragut  from  the  rigging. 
"  Go  ahead,  Captain  Drayton !  Four  bells."  The 
"Hartford"  steered  to  the  West  and  crossed 
the  line  in  safety.  Such  "  lofty  courage  and  stern 
determination  plucked  victory  out  of  the  very 
jaws  of  defeat;  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay  was  to 
the  career  of  Farragut  what  the  battle  of  Copen 
hagen  was  to  that  of  Nelson." 

We  return  now  to  Georgia,  where  we  left  the 
contesting  parties  before  Atlanta.  Pollard  at 
tributes  the  capture  of  that  city  by  Sherman  to 
the  unaccountable  replacement  of  Johnston  by 
Hood,  saying  that,  though  the  latter  had  a  heart 
like  a  lion,  his  head  was  a  block  of  wood.  The 
reason  given  for  the  supersession  of  Johnston 
was  his  failure  to  check  the  advance  of  the  enemy 
and  also  because  he  expressed  "  no  confidence 
that  he  could  defeat  or  expel  him."  The  latter 
reason  is  singular.  To  it  Johnston  simply  replied, 
"  Confident  language  by  a  military  commander  is 
not  usually  regarded  as  evidence  of  competence." 


SHERMAN'S   MARCH  363 

Davis  never  had  any  love  for  Johnston,  and, 
while  obliged  to  use  him,  on  more  than  one  occa 
sion  took  the  opportunity  to  humiliate  him. 

Hood  took  the  command  with  the  understand 
ing  that  his  government  wished  to  see  some 
fighting.  He  satisfied  that  desire.  On  the  2Oth 
of  July  he  attacked  Sherman's  right  at  Peach- 
tree  Creek.  Though  some  prisoners  were  taken 
and  the  retreat  was  made  in  good  order,  yet  it 
was  a  repulse.  On  the  22d  occurred  another 
battle  near  the  same  spot;  and  on  this  occasion 
the  Confederates  captured  two  thousand  prison 
ers  and  six  pieces  of  artillery.  Hood  made 
another  attack  on  the  23d.  He  came  out  of  At 
lanta  by  the  Bell's  Ferry  road.  He  had,  however, 
made  a  miscalculation  which  cost  him  fifteen  hun 
dred  men,  according  to  his  own  statement. 

Sherman  was  now  regularly  besieging  Atlanta. 
Bombardment  did  not  seem  to  effect  much,  and 
for  weeks  the  Union  general  waited  his  oppor 
tunity.  On  the  3  ist  of  August  he  found  the  Con 
federate  army  divided  into  two  parts,  twenty-two 
miles  away  from  each  other.  Hood  had  also 
sent  his  cavalry  under  Wheeler  to  intercept  Sher 
man's  line  oT  communication.  On  this,  the  Fed 
erals  moved  to  a  commanding  position  near 
Jonesboro,  from  which  Hood  was  unable  to  dis 
lodge  them.  On  the  ist  of  September  Hardee's 
Corps  was  defeated  with  great  loss.  Hood  now 
found  himself  outflanked,  cut  off  from  his  sup 
plies,  and  his  army  divided,  cut  in  two  by  the 
Federals.  Thereupon,  he  determined  that  At- 


364  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

lanta  was  no  longer  tenable.  He  destroyed  his 
supplies,  which  it  was  found  impossible  to  re 
move,  blew  up  the  magazines,  and  marched  out. 
Just  at  the  moment  when  the  weary  North  was 
beginning  to  look  with  consideration  on  the  Chi 
cago  platform,  the  news  came  from  Sherman : 
"  Atlanta  is  ours,  and  fairly  won.  Since  the  5th 
of  May  we  have  been  in  one  continual  battle  or 
skirmish,  and  need  rest." 

The  administration  of  the  North  needed  such 
news  as  this.  It  came  just  in  the  nick  of  time. 
The  people  were  almost  ready  to  vote  the  affirm 
ative  on  "  Resolved,  the  war  is  a  failure."  But 
now  came  successes.  Farragut  had  achieved  his 
victory  in  Mobile  Bay.  Sheridan  also  had  de 
feated  Early  at  Winchester  and  Fisher's  Hill. 
These  victories,  to  use  Seward's  language, 
"  knocked  the  bottom  out  of  the  Chicago  nomi 
nations."  By  October,  Chase,  who  in  the  interval 
had  been  dropped  from  the  Cabinet  and,  after 
much  sullenness,  had  been  reconciled  to  Lincoln, 
could  write : 

"There  is  not,  now,  the  slightest  uncertainty  about  the 
re-election  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  The  only  question  is  by  what 
popular  and  what  electoral  majority.  God  grant  that  both 
may  be  so  decisive  as  to  turn  every  hope  of  rebellion  to 
despair." 

Atlanta  was  formally  surrendered  to  Sherman 
by  the  mayor  of  the  city.  The  former  promised 
that  the  lives  and  property  of  non-combatants 
should  be  respected.  He  did  not  keep  his  prom 
ise.  Before  his  occupation  he  had  ordered  all 


SHERMAN'S    MARCH  365 

civilians,  male  and  female,  to  leave  the  city  within 
five  days.  When  Hood  endeavored  to  intercede 
for  the  city  he  could  not  protect,  the  answer 
he  received  from  the  Federal  commander  was, 
"  Talk  thus  to  the  marines,  and  not  to  me."  To 
the  mayor  he  replied,  "  I  give  full  credit  to  your 
statements  of  the  distress  that  will  be  occasioned 
by  it,  and  yet  shall  not  revoke  my  order,  because 
my  orders  are  not  designed  to  meet  the  humani 
ties  of  the  case." 

There  was  a  movement  on  foot  at  this  time 
to  have  Georgia  withdraw  from  the  Confederacy 
and  treat  with  the  North  for  peace.  It  was  felt 
that  the  State  had  not  received  the  consideration 
and  protection  due  from  the  authorities  at  Rich 
mond.  But  to  overtures  of  this  nature  Governor 
Brown  replied : 

"  Whatever  may  be  the  opinion  of  her  people  as  to  the 
injustice  done  her  by  the  Confederate  administration,  Geor 
gia  will  triumph  with  her  Confederate  sisters,  or  she  will 
sink  with  them  in  common  ruin." 

The  Confederate  administration  and  generals 
were  now  apprehensive  and  uncertain  as  to  Sher 
man's  next  move.  Hood  finally  determined  to 
fall  back  towards  Tennessee  on  the  Federal  line 
of  communication,  with  the  hope  that  he  could 
thus  draw  Sherman  out  of  Georgia.  But  Thomas 
was  in  Tennessee,  and,  having  received  rein 
forcements,  he  was  competent  to  take  care  of 
Hood.  Sherman,  now  left  with  no  effective  op 
position,  determined  on  his  famous  "  march  to 


366  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

the  sea."  Thus  the  two  armies  which  had  been 
engaged  in  so  many  weeks  of  continual  fighting 
were  now  marching  away  from  each  other. 

Before  leaving  Atlanta,  Sherman  crowned  his 
relentless  methods  by  destroying  the  city  by  fire. 
This  destruction  of  the  property  of  non-comba 
tants,  the  means  of  subsistence  of  women  and 
children,  may  have  been  an  effective  method  of 
causing  the  people  to  tire  of  rebellion,  but  it  was 
not  consistent  with  the  principles  of  civilized 
warfare. 

On  November  16  Sherman  divided  his  army 
into  two  bodies  and  marched  out  of  Atlanta. 
One  division  took  a  route  which  led  through 
central  Georgia  and  Milledgeville ;  the  other  fol 
lowed  the  railroad  in  the  direction  of  Augusta. 
There  was  no  opposition,  except  from  Wheeler's 
cavalry  and  a  home-guard  militia.  The  people 
did  their  best  to  remove  all  provisions  out  of  the 
Federal  way,  a  precaution  which  was  necessary 
not  only  on  the  ground  of  ill-will,  but  for  the 
saving  of  their  property.  The  Federal  troops 
had  a  great  respect  for  the  goods  of  the  people 
whose  homes  they  invaded.  They  preserved 
everything  they  could  carry  with  them.  It  must 
be  confessed  that  in  this  respect  the  Federal 
soldiers,  not  excluding  officers,  showed  a  van 
dalism  far  from  creditable  to  an  army  that  was 
fighting  for  a  great  moral  purpose. 

While  speaking  of  Northern  barbarities  such 
as  these,  we  are  reminded  of  the  question  of  the 
treatment  of  prisoners.  The  sympathies  of 


SHERMAN'S    MARCH  367 

Northern  people  have  never  ceased  to  be  affected 
by  the  stories  of  suffering  in  Andersonville  and 
Libby  Prisons.  But  it  ought  to  be  remembered 
that  up  to  July,  1863,  the  South  had  captured  the 
more  prisoners  and  was  at  her  wits'  end  to  pro 
vide  for  them,  despite  great  efforts  to  do  so. 
After  the  balance  of  prisoners  shifted  the  North, 
always  unwilling  to  abide  by  its  cartel  of  ex 
change,  became  yet  more  averse  to  doing  so. 
It  is  a  fact  that  the  men  who  pined  and  died  of 
hunger  and  disease  in  Southern  prisons  were 
abandoned  by  their  government,  which  refused 
to  make  adequate  arrangements  for  the  ex 
change  of  prisoners.  Many  were  exchanged 
under  a  plan  by  which  the  Federal  government 
could  pretend  to  know  nothing  about  it,  and 
thus  avoid  a  recognition  of  the  belligerent  status 
of  the  Confederacy;  but  the  Confederate  au 
thorities  were  prepared  to  exchange  man  for 
man,  to  the  fullest  extent.  One  excuse  which 
the  North  made  for  its  failure  to  exchange 
prisoners  was  the  fact  that  the  South  objected 
to  giving  up  their  recaptured  slaves  for  their 
white  soldiers, — a  very  natural  objection,  con 
sidering  the  grounds  on  which  they  were  right 
ing.  But  in  November,  1864,  Colonel  Ould,  the 
Southern  commissioner  on  exchange,  wrote  to 
his  Secretary  of  War : 

"  My  own  firm  conviction  is  that,  even  if  we  were  to 
agree  to  the  unjust  demands  of  the  enemy  in  this  respect, 
we  would  not  secure  a  general  exchange.  ...  I  think  it  very 
doubtful  whether  they  would  agree  to  a  general  exchange 


368  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

even  if  we  consented  to  treat  recaptured  slaves  as  prisoners 
of  war,  and  delivered  those  whose  term  of  service  had  not 
expired.  I  am  satisfied  their  course  is  the  result  of  a  con 
viction  forced  upon  them  by  the  events  of  the  war,  that  a 
Confederate  soldier  is  more  valuable  than  a  Federal." 

This  is  a  pardonable  supposition;  but  it  is 
more  likely  that  the  Northern  authorities  consid 
ered  their  prisoners  more  valuable  because  their 
places  could  not  be  filled  from  the  drained 
Southern  population.  They  chose  to  allow 
their  own  men  to  languish  in  prison  rather 
than  return  soldiers  to  the  thinning  ranks  of 
the  Confederacy. 

By  the  loth  of  December,  1864,  Sherman  was 
at  Savannah.  As  soon  as  the  consequent  bom 
bardment  began,  Hardee,  knowing  he  could  not 
successfully  defend  the  city,  formally  surrendered 
it  on  the  2ist  of  December,  after  destroying  the 
navy-yard  and  a  great  store  of  ammunition. 
Sherman  wrote  to  President  Lincoln : 

"  I  beg  to  present  you,  as  a  Christmas-gift,  the  city  of 
Savannah,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  guns  and  plenty  of 
ammunition,  and  also  about  twenty-five  thousand  bales  of 
cotton." 

Thus  ended  Sherman's  memorable  Georgian  ex 
pedition. 

Late  in  January,  1865,  Sherman's  army,  sing 
ing  "  John  Brown's  Body,"  crossed  the  Savannah 
River  and  entered  South  Carolina,  filled  with  the 
desire  to  wreak  vengeance  on  the  State  that  had 
first  taken  the  step  to  withdraw  from  the  Union. 


SHERMAN'S   MARCH  369 

The  South  Carolinians  soon  learned  that  the 
soul  of  the  border  ruffian  was  indeed  march 
ing  forward.  Along  the  path  of  the  invading 
hosts,  churches,  private  residences,  and  personal 
property  were  destroyed  with  utter  disregard  of 
the  rules  of  war;  and  what  was  not  burned  was 
often  wantonly  injured.  Not  since  the  days  of 
"Bloody  Bill"  Cunningham,  the  Tory  leader 
during  the  Revolutionary  War,  had  Sherman's 
equal  been  known. 

According  to  Sherman's  theory,  the  Southern 
people  had  "  lost  all  title  to  property,  and  can 
lose  nothing  not  already  forfeited."  ("  Conduct 
of  the  War,"  Supplement,  Part  7,  p.  350.)  It  is 
true,  he  went  through  the  farcical  proceeding  of 
notifying  his  subordinates  that  while  they  had  a 
right  to  forage  on  the  enemy,  wanton  waste  and 
pillage  should  be  discouraged  "  for  the  sake  of 
discipline."  The  crowning  infamy  of  the  famous 
march  was  the  burning  of  Columbia,  February 
17.  Sherman  at  first  endeavored  to  fasten  the 
blame  on  Wade  Hampton,  the  Southern  cavalry 
leader,  but  subsequently  admitted  that  he  had 
lied  in  order  to  weaken  Hampton's  influence  in 
the  State. 

And  while  it  can  never  be  proved  that  Sher 
man  directly  ordered  the  destruction  of  the  city, 
— perhaps  he  never  did, — its  annihilation  was  un 
questionably  due  to  a  lack  of  discipline  on  the 
part  of  his  men,  for  which  he  was  entirely  respon 
sible.  His  whole  conduct  was  that  of  a  braggart. 
Before  crossing  the  Savannah  he  wrote  Grant, 

24 


370  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

"  If  you  can  hold  Lee,  and  if  Thomas  can  con 
tinue  as  he  did  on  the  i8th,  I  could  go  on  and 
smash  South  Carolina  all  to  pieces."  (Ibid., 
286.)  Then  again,  in  a  communication  to  Hal- 
leek,  Chief  of  Staff  at  Washington,  he  declared, 
December  24,  1864,  "  The  truth  is,  the  whole 
army  is  burning  with  an  insatiable  desire  to 
wreak  vengeance  upon  South  Carolina.  I  almost 
tremble  at  her  fate,  but  feel  that  she  deserves 
all  that  is  in  store  for  her."  (Ibid.,  291.) 

Charleston  held  a  prominence  in  the  Confed 
eracy  second  only  to  that  of  Richmond.  It  was 
the  birthplace  of  secession.  Sherman  made  a 
feint  against  it.  Hardee  knew  that  the  effort  to 
protect  the  city  was  not  worth  the  sacrifice,  which 
must  certainly  in  the  end  be  useless.  He  evac 
uated  the  city,  after  destroying  all  property 
which  could  be  of  use  to  the  Federal  army  led  by 
General  Gillmore.  An  accidental  explosion  of 
gunpowder,  destroying  much  life  and  starting  a 
devastating  conflagration,  gave  a  peculiar  horror 
to  the  fall  of  Charleston. 

After  the  burning  of  Columbia,  Sherman  con 
tinued  his  march  northward,  the  army  despoil 
ing  and  burning  as  it  went.  Sherman's  march 
through  the  Carolinas  was  marked  by  a  trail  of 
ruin.  His  troops  plundered  and  abused  the  in 
habitants  without  let  or  hinderance.  Jewelry  was 
even  taken  forcibly  from  the  persons  of  women. 
If  the  soldiers  left  anything,  it  was  cleaned  up  by 
"  Sherman's  bummers,"  the  prisoners  of  war  who 
had  escaped  from  the  various  prisons.  By  the 


SHERMAN'S   MARCH  37i 

20th  of  March,  1865,  Sherman  was  at  Goldsboro, 
North  Carolina,  where  he  was  again  in  close  com 
munication  with  Grant,  who  was  but  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  away.  The  noose  was  now  ready 
to  be  drawn  which  would  strangle  the  last  hopes 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 


XV 

GRANT    ENDS    THE   STRUGGLE 

THE  most  important  of  the  several  attempts 
made  during  the  course  of  the  war  to  institute 
negotiations  for  the  suspension  of  hostilities  was 
that  of  F.  P.  Blair.  He  obtained,  in  December, 
1864,  a  card  from  President  Lincoln  with  the 
words,  "  Allow  the  bearer,  F.  P.  Blair,  Sr.,  to 
pass  our  lines,  go  South,  and  return."  He  went 
South  and  proposed  to  Jefferson  Davis  that  he 
suspend  hostilities  on  the  plea  that  Louis  Na 
poleon's  schemes  in  Mexico  should  be  frustrated 
by  an  immediate  declaration  of  war  with  that 
country.  The  result  was  that  unofficially,  and 
through  the  medium  of  Blair,  a  commission,  con 
sisting  of  A.  H.  Stephens,  John  A.  Campbell, 
and  R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  was  met  by  Lincoln  and 
Seward  on  February  3,  1865,  on  board  a  steamer 
at  Hampton  Roads.  A  four  hours'  discussion 
ensued.  This  was  resultless,  as  the  commissioners 
from  the  Confederate  States  were  unable  to  con 
cede  the  conditions  imposed  by  Lincoln  as  prece 
dent  to  peace.  These  included  the  restoration  of 
the  Union,  the  abolishment  of  slavery,  and  the 
disarming  of  the  South. 

We  left  Grant  in  Eastern  Virginia  immediately 
after  his  costly  and  indecisive  fight  at  Spottsyl- 
vania,  when  in  May  he  found  Lee  immovably 
372 


GRANT   ENDS  THE   STRUGGLE          373 

barring  his  way  to  Richmond.  Butler  was  on  the 
James  River,  and  was  able  to  creep  up  to  City 
Point  and  Bermuda  Hundred.  He  had  there  a 
capital  opportunity  to  operate  with  probable  suc 
cess  against  Richmond,  or,  at  least,  Petersburg. 
But  Butler  was  never  brilliant  in  generalship,  and 
Beauregard  soon  had  his  army,  to  borrow 
Grant's  language,  completely  bottled  up. 

In  the  mean  time  Grant,  owing  to  Lee's  ill 
ness,  had  made  such  progress  southward — 
though  he  had  to  fight  for  it  all  the  way — that 
by  the  2d  of  June  he  was  on  the  ground  occupied 
by  McClellan  in  June,  1862.  He  was  near  Gaines 
Mill.  Lee  was  intrenched  at  Cold  Harbor.  Here 
Grant's  direct  method  got  him  into  trouble,  and 
illustrated  the  fact  that  good  generalship  in 
cludes  manoeuvring  to  get  around  an  enemy  that 
holds  an  impregnable  position.  The  Federal 
army  was  ordered  to  assault  Lee's  position  in 
front, — a  hopeless  effort,  as  every  officer  and 
man  well  knew.  Many  of  the  former,  knowing 
overnight  the  work  that  was  cut  out  for  them 
on  the  morrow,  wrote  their  names  and  addresses 
on  paper,  which  they  pinned  to  the  backs  of  their 
coats,  so  that  their  dead  bodies  might  be  iden 
tified  and  the  news  of  their  death  sent  to  their 
friends.  The  Federal  army,  however,  went 
bravely  to  the  assault  on  the  morning  of  the  3d. 
The  charges  were  characterized  by  stupendous 
exhibitions  of  courage  on  the  part  of  the  attack 
ing  columns  and  the  defenders  alike.  But  it  was 
quickly  decided  that  the  position  could  not  be 


374  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

taken.  The  waste  of  life  was  terrific;  the 
slaughter  was  wholesale;  it  was  not  war,  but 
murder.  The  losses  of  the  Union  army  are 
estimated  at  seven  thousand.  It  was  an  awful 
mistake  on  the  part  of  Grant.  The  battle  of 
Cold  Harbor  more  than  any  other  exemplifies 
Grant's  utter  lack  of  feeling  in  regard  to  the  sac 
rifice  of  human  life.  He  never  studied  to  save 
men.  His  policy  was  to  bear  on  the  enemy  with 
such  obstinate  and  continuous  force  that  the 
enemy  must  sooner  or  later  be  broken.  So  long 
as  this  end  was  achieved,  it  mattered  little  what 
damage  resulted  to  his  own  side.  He  was  calm 
in  the  confidence  that  he  could  stand  it  longest. 
This  won  in  the  end;  but  it  was  an  indefensible 
policy  at  Cold  Harbor.  This  Grant  himself  after 
wards  acknowledged.  He  was  now  compelled  to 
move  his  army  south  of  the  James  River. 

Petersburg  was  now  in  the  way.  If  Butler  had 
performed  his  part  in  the  programme  arranged 
by  Grant,  this  city  would  soon  have  been  in  Fed 
eral  possession.  But  Butler  delayed,  and  Beau- 
regard  made  good  use  of  the  time  to  scrape  to 
gether  an  army  for  the  defence  of  this  gateway 
to  Richmond.  By  the  i6th  of  June  the  Confed 
erate  commander  was  ready  to  receive  the  Fed 
eral  advance.  During  that  day  and  the  two  fol 
lowing,  determined  assaults  on  the  front  were 
made  by  the  Union  army,  but  they  resulted  only 
in  a  loss  of  nearly  ten  thousand  men.  While  the 
main  army  was  resting,  detachments  were  sent  to 
the  southward  to  raid  the  Weldon  Railroad;  but 


GRANT   ENDS   THE   STRUGGLE          375 

these  were  defeated,  leaving  many  prisoners  and 
large  quantities  of  supplies  in  the  hands  of  the 
Confederates.  Sheridan  also,  who  was  to  close 
in  on  Richmond  from  the  west,  was  not  having 
better  success,  having  come  in  contact  with 
General  Morgan. 

Matters  again  looked  exceedingly  gloomy  for 
the  North.  She  had  an  enormous  army  in  the 
field,  commanded  by  the  ablest  general  who  had 
hitherto  appeared.  He  had  attempted  what  was 
unquestionably  his  best;  and  yet  the  stronghold 
of  the  Confederacy  still  laughed  at  Federal  as 
saults.  There  is  a  hint  that  even  Grant's  stout 
heart  was  discouraged.  But  a  study  of  the  war 
leads  one  to  believe  that  he  never  lost  confidence 
in  the  result  if  allowed  to  persist  in  his  own  way. 
One  serious  drawback  with  which  he  now  had 
to  contend  was  the  character  of  his  troops. 
Many  were  "  bounty  men,"  many  were  of  the 
lowest  order  morally  and  physically.  Doubtless, 
if  Grant  at  this  time  had  had  the  army  com 
manded  by  McClellan  in  1862,  he  would  have 
made  short  work  of  his  task.  One  supposed 
proof  of  his  depression  is  the  probable  fact  that 
he  was  again  drinking.  But  the  main  thing  we 
see  in  him  is  the  grim  determination  to  hold  on. 
If  he  had  any  misgiving,  it  could  only  have  been 
that  the  North  might  rebel  against  his  costly 
methods  and  that  he  would  be  thwarted  or  even 
superseded.  This  probably  explains  the  strange 
episode  in  relation  to  Butler.  The  Massachusetts 
general  was  no  soldier;  he  was  only  a  politician. 


376  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

But  he  retained  his  position  in  the  army,  incom 
petent  as  he  proved  himself,  by  means  of  some 
hold  which  he  had  upon  Grant.  The  latter  asked 
for  Butler's  removal  for  the  good  of  the  cause. 
Halleck  wrote  Grant  a  letter  recognizing  But 
ler's  "  total  unfitness  to  command  in  the  field." 
But  for  political  reasons  it  was  necessary  to  take 
care  of  him.  Grant  suggested  that  he  be  given 
local  command  of  a  department.  This  was 
agreed  to  in  Washington,  and  an  order  was  sent 
to  Grant  to  this  effect,  and  transferring  Butler's 
command  to  "  Baldy"  Smith.  Thereupon  Grant 
was  visited  by  Butler,  and  on  the  following  day 
he  telegraphed  to  Washington  that  he  had  sus 
pended  the  order  for  which  he  had  expressly 
asked.  Smith  was  relieved  of  his  command  and 
sent  to  New  York.  Evidently  Butler  had  some 
means  by  which  he  was  enabled  to  make  Grant 
"  back  down." 

While  the  campaigns  were  going  on  in  Vir 
ginia  and  Georgia,  the  Confederates  were  en 
deavoring  to  disturb  these  plans  by  certain  offen 
sive  operations,  particularly  the  invasion  of 
Maryland  by  Early.  In  June  this  general  started 
up  the  valley  on  an  expedition  which  gave  to  the 
authorities  at  Washington  a  serious  time  for  a 
while.  The  lower  valley  had  been  occupied  by 
Sigel.  He  had  been  defeated  in  May  by  Breck- 
enridge  and  Imboden,  and  was  therefore  super 
seded  by  General  Hunter  with  a  larger  force. 
Hunter  proceeded  to  a  campaign  on  property. 
He  turned  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  his  native 


GRANT   ENDS   THE   STRUGGLE          377 

State,  into  a  wilderness.  Nothing  was  spared, 
neither  public  buildings  nor  private  residences. 
Hunter  and  Early  arrived  at  Lynchburg  together 
on  the  1 7th.  When  the  Confederates  were  ex 
pecting  the  former  to  attack  he  was  preparing 
a  retreat,  in  which  he  was  followed  until  driven 
beyond  the  field  upon  which  he  could  hinder 
Early's  plans. 

On  July  2  Early  was  at  Winchester.  He 
crossed  the  Potomac  on  the  6th,  and,  deter 
mined  that  the  expedition  should  at  least  pay  its 
own  expenses,  collected  from  Hagerstown  and 
Frederick  City  two  hundred  and  twenty  thou 
sand  dollars.  On  the  9th  Lew  Wallace  made  an 
attempt  to  stay  the  Confederate  progress  at  Mo- 
nocacy  Bridge.  A  brief  but  severe  engagement 
followed.  Though  it  lasted  but  two  hours,  the 
Confederates  lost  from  six  to  seven  hundred 
men,  and  the  Union  army  more  than  twice  that 
number  and  also  seven  hundred  prisoners.  Wal 
lace  was  defeated;  but  the  fact  that  he  had  de 
layed  Early  probably  saved  Washington  from 
assault. 

The  Northern  capital  was  never  in  greater 
peril  than  at  this  time.  The  news  that  it  had 
been  taken  was  even  spread  through  the  Union. 
Baltimore  and  Washington  were  not  too  well 
defended.  For  the  sake  of  the  latter  Lincoln 
was  compelled  to  refuse  urgently  requested  aid 
to  the  former.  His  words,  "  I  hope  neither  Bal 
timore  nor  Washington  will  be  taken,"  are  good 
evidence  of  the  seriousness  of  the  situation. 


378  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

It  seems  that  a  part  of  the  plan  arranged  be 
tween  Lee  and  Early  for  the  capture  of  Wash 
ington  was  that  the  latter  should  reinforce  him 
self  by  the  release  of  the  Confederate  prisoners 
at  Point  Lookout.  A  detachment  of  cavalry  was 
sent  for  this  purpose.  Early  proceeded  to  the 
fortifications  by  the  Seventh  Street  road  on  the 
i  ith.  It  seems  likely  that  a  prompt  and  vigorous 
attack  would  have  put  him  in  possession  of  the 
city,  for  it  was  defended  principally  by  invalids 
and  one  hundred  days'  men,  with  no  one  of 
any  ability  in  command.  But  the  Confederate 
general  was  unaware  of  the  real  situation,  and 
delayed,  thus  giving  time  for  reinforcements  to 
arrive. 

The  opportunity  was  again  lost  by  the  usual 
inability  of  the  Southern  commanders  to  reap 
the  fruits  of  their  prowess.  By  the  middle  of 
July  Early  was  recrossing  the  Potomac,  having 
accomplished  nothing  but  to  scare  the  North, 
capture  an  immense  quantity  of  supplies,  cattle, 
etc.,  and  hinder  Grant's  projects  by  diverting 
from  him  portions  of  his  army  before  Richmond. 
Grant  might  have  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
forces  which  followed  Early  out  of  Maryland; 
but  he  neglected  to  do  so,  and  consequently  the 
Confederate  had  things  all  his  own  way. 

Grant,  however,  proceeded  to  compensate  for 
this  error  of  judgment  by  sending  Sheridan  to 
the  Shenandoah  Valley.  This  commander  fur 
nished  successes  which  were  sorely  needed  to  stir 
the  flagging  Union  zeal  and  enable  the  North  to 


GRANT   ENDS   THE   STRUGGLE          379 

believe  that  her  vast  armies  were  worth  sup 
porting.  On  the  iQth  Sheridan  won  a  well- 
earned  victory  over  Early  at  Winchester.  In  his 
despatch  he  says,  "  After  a  most  stubborn  and 
sanguinary  engagement,  which  lasted  from  early 
in  the  morning  until  five  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
I  completely  defeated  him,  and,  driving  him 
through  Winchester,  captured  about  two  thou 
sand  five  hundred  prisoners,  five  pieces  of  artil 
lery,  nine  army  flags,  and  most  of  their 
wounded."  Then  followed  the  battle  of  Fisher's 
Hill.  At  this  place  the  Confederates  were 
strongly  intrenched;  but  Sheridan  succeeded  in 
flanking  them,  and  Early's  army,  being  thus  con 
fused,  was  easily  defeated.  This  was  on  the  23d 
of  September.  From  that  time  to  the  i8th  of 
October,  when  the  battle  of  Cedar  Creek  finished 
Early's  Shenandoah  career,  Sheridan  employed 
his  army  in  laying  waste  the  country.  The  har 
vests  were  stored  in  the  barns  and  mills.  These 
were  burned  in  every  direction,  and  the  country 
was  so  completely  cleared  of  the  means  of  sub 
sistence  that,  "  if  a  crow  should  fly  over  it,  he 
would  have  to  take  his  provender  with  him." 

The  battle  of  Cedar  Creek  was  one  of  those 
picturesque  events  which  historians  always  suffi 
ciently  dwell  upon.  Early  surprised  the  two 
corps  of  Sheridan's  army  at  Cedar  Creek  in 
their  camp  on  the  i8th  of  October.  It  was  a 
complete  rout,  and  would  have  ended  as  a  most 
disastrous  defeat  for  the  Northern  arms  had  not 
the  Confederates  stopped  to  plunder  the  camp. 


380  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

The  Federal  leaders  succeeded  in  rallying  their 
fleeing  corps  and  driving  them  back  to  their 
duty,  and,  the  Confederate  ranks  having  been 
thinned  by  the  absence  of  the  plunderers,  the 
reorganized  Union  men  quickly  turned  what  had 
been  a  decisive  defeat  into  a  victory  which  ended 
the  campaign,  After  the  overthrow  of  Early 
in  the  Shenandoah  Valley  all  important  move 
ments  in  that  portion  of  Virginia  were  at  an 
end,  and  both  sides  concentrated  their  attention 
on  Petersburg  and  Richmond. 

If  the  successes  of  Sherman  and  Sheridan  did 
not  wholly  secure  the  re-election  of  President 
Lincoln,  at  least  to  them  must  be  accounted  his 
tremendous  majorities.  The  people  of  the  North 
and  the  South  were  now  fast  drifting  to  exactly 
opposite  states  of  mind.  The  latter  were  begin 
ning  to  lose  all  confidence  in  the  success  of  their 
cause.  They  were  thinking,  "  If  a  disastrous  end 
is  to  come,  it  had  better  come  quickly."  They 
had  no  faith  in  their  Executive.  Davis's  predic 
tions  of  sweeping  the  enemy  off  the  Southern 
soil  could  no  longer  delude  them.  There  was 
neither  sympathy  nor  co-operation  between  the 
President  and  his  Cabinet  and  Congress.  Davis 
was  stigmatized  in  the  Southern  Senate  as  "  an 
amalgam  of  malice  and  mediocrity."  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Northern  people  had  come  to  see 
that  victory  was  well-nigh  in  the  hands  of  Lin 
coln.  He  had  gained  their  complete  confidence. 
They  had,  however,  done  all  they  wished  to  do 
for  the  Union.  There  were  no  more  volunteers. 


GRANT   ENDS   THE   STRUGGLE          381 

They  were  weary  of  the  war,  and  yearned  in 
expressibly  for  its  close.  But  there  was  now 
little  of  the  "  peace-at-any-price"  sentiment. 
The  Union  was  winning.  Lincoln  was  winning. 
He  now  had  the  right  generals,  at  least  as  good 
as  there  were.  He  was  re-elected  by  twenty- 
two  States  out  of  twenty-five,  receiving  two 
hundred  and  thirteen  votes  to  McClellan's 
twenty-one.  The  States  that  voted  for  Mr. 
Lincoln  in  1864  and  gave  him  a  majority  of 
494,567,  in  1860  cast  a  popular  vote  against  him 
of  one  hundred  thousand.  Since  the  election  of 
1860  three  States  had  been  admitted  to  the 
Union,  which  raised  the  number  to  thirty-six, 
but  eleven  claimed  to  have  seceded  from  the 
Union.  Accordingly,  the  Electoral  College 
represented  only  twenty-five,  or  a  little  more 
than  two-thirds  of  the  States. 

It  was  a  vote  that  the  war  must  go  on.  Early 
in  the  summer  there  had  been  plenty  in  the 
North  who  would  have  sacrificed  the  Union  for 
peace.  Now  it  must  be  a  fight  to  the  finish ;  the 
South  must  be  subjected.  This,  however,  con 
sidered  solely  in  relation  to  natural  conditions, 
was  still  an  almost  impossible  task.  At  its  ad 
journment  in  the  spring  of  1865  —  its  last  ad 
journment — the  Confederate  Congress  published 
an  address  to  the  people.  Among  other  things  it 
set  forth  the  practical  impossibility  of  subjuga 
tion.  Its  reasoning  was  sound. 

After  Hood's  repulse  at  Atlanta  he  withdrew 
his  forces  from  that  section  and,  early  in  Novem- 


382  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

ber,  1864,  marched  into  Tennessee  for  the  pur 
pose  of  capturing  Sherman's  base  of  supplies. 
But  the  Confederates  were  righting  a  losing  bat 
tle  now  in  the  West.  The  Mississippi  River,  as 
well  as  a  large  part  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and 
neighboring  States,  had  passed  out  of  their  hands 
forever.  On  November  30  Hood  attacked  Scho- 
field  about  twenty  miles  out  of  Nashville,  but  was 
defeated,  notwithstanding  his  superior  numerical 
strength,  and  allowed  Schofield  to  join  Thomas 
in  Nashville.  Two  weeks  later  came  the  battle 
of  Nashville,  one  of  the  most  disastrous  for  the 
South  during  the  war,  when  Hood's  army  was 
almost  destroyed  and  its  remnants  pursued  for 
several  hundred  miles. 

The  Confederacy  had  already  received  its 
death-blow.  Still,  however,  the  struggle  was 
kept  up,  partly  by  reason  of  the  obstinacy  of 
Davis,  partly  because  of  the  alluring  hope  of  gain 
ing  recognition  abroad,  and,  lastly,  the  fight 
was  prolonged  through  the  pride  and  indomi 
table  will  of  the  Southern  people.  But,  note 
worthy  enough,  this  prolongation  of  the  conflict 
only  served  to  intensify  the  bitterness  at  the 
North,  which  bore  ill  fruit  during  the  period  of 
reconstruction. 

The  successful  operation  of  the  general  Fed 
eral  plan  was  now  almost  completed.  The  Con 
federacy  had  been  surrounded  by  a  band  of  fire. 
Her  ports  were  wrested  from  her,  thus  prevent 
ing  what  traffic  had  been  carried  on  notwith 
standing  the  blockade.  Her  Western  outposts 


GRANT   ENDS   THE   STRUGGLE          383 

had  been  constantly  driven  in,  all  approach — ex 
cept  inimical — to  her  territory  being  cut  off  by 
the  Federal  possession  of  the  great  Western 
water-way.  Sherman  had  dealt  a  deadly  blow 
in  his  destructive  march  through  Georgia  and 
the  Carolinas.  Sheridan  had  raided  the  rich  Vir 
ginia  Valley  time  and  again.  Grant  was  now 
hammering  at  the  gate  of  the  capital  with  a  force 
and  persistency  which  must  ultimately  break 
through.  Should  Richmond  be  taken  the  Con 
federacy  might  yet  live;  but  it  would  be  under 
a  fugitive  government  which  could  no  longer 
pretend  to  a  dignified  place  among  the  nations 
of  men.  Moreover,  the  people  had  neither  the 
cause  which  impels  to  win  or  the  spirit  to  uphold 
a  guerilla  warfare.  It  was  a  foregone  conclu 
sion,  though  not  publicly  admitted  by  the  author 
ities  or  the  generals,  that  with  the  fall  of  Rich 
mond  the  war  would  be  ended. 

But  the  siege  of  the  Southern  capital  was  a 
long  and  weary  affair.  Through  a  whole  sum 
mer  and  a  winter  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
waited,  manoeuvring  and  skirmishing  around 
Petersburg  and  Richmond.  Grant  tried  every 
possible  avenue  of  approach;  but  Lee's  army 
was  ever  before  him  and  so  intrenched  that  even 
Grant's  recklessness  of  blood  and  life  at  last 
flinched  at  the  assault.  Every  expedient  was 
tried;  but  the  Confederates  repulsed  the  be 
siegers.  Other  armies  harassed  the  country  and 
menaced  important  points ;  but  Lee  could  not  be 
induced  to  leave  his  charge.  Nor  was  he  drawn 


384  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

into  a  pitched  battle;  his  army  was  far  too  in 
ferior  in  numbers  and  equipment. 

Throughout  the  winter  the  two  armies  did  lit 
tle  but  watch  and  "  feel"  each  other.  Two  or 
three  undecisive  engagements  occurred,  such  as 
that  of  Hatcher's  Run,  on  February  6,  1865,  and 
Hare's  Hill,  on  March  25.  The  latter  was  an 
attack  by  Lee,  under  the  immediate  command  of 
General  Gordon,  on  Grant's  works  south  of  the 
Appomattox.  To  capture  these  would  have 
given  him  the  command  of  Grant's  military 
road.  Though  the  Federals  were  surprised, 
the  success  was  short-lived  and  the  Confeder 
ates  were  repulsed  with  much  loss  to  them 
selves,  though  they  made  many  prisoners  and 
captured  some  artillery,  which  they  spiked  and 
left  on  the  ground. 

On  the  29th  of  March  Grant  again  took  the 
offensive  with  vigor  and  determination.  Sheri 
dan,  with  his  own  and  Crook's  cavalry,  went  to 
Dinwiddie  Court-House,  two  corps  of  infantry 
following  on  a  parallel  road.  The  object  was  the 
possession  of  the  Weldon  Railroad.  But  this 
movement  was  met  and  repulsed  by  Generals 
Fitzhugh  Lee  and  Pickett.  Grant  immediately 
moved  forward  reinforcements,  and  Sheridan's 
brilliant  battle  of  Five  Forks  ensued  on  March  31, 
in  which  Lee's  right  was  turned  and  several  thou 
sand  Confederates  taken  prisoners.  It  was  this 
battle  that  made  Appomattox  possible,  and  it 
required  the  dash  and  skill  of  a  Sheridan. 

Grant  was  now  in  a  position  where  he  could 


GRANT   ENDS   THE   STRUGGLE          385 

strike  effectively  the  thin  Confederate  lines  be 
fore  Petersburg.  He  did  this,  and  pierced  Lee's 
line  in  three  places;  but  the  Southern  troops 
forded  the  river  and  fell  back  within  the  inner 
intrenchments  of  the  city.  Among  their  losses 
was  General  A.  P.  Hill,  who  had  done  conspicu 
ous  service  for  the  Confederate  cause  around 
Richmond  during  the  campaign  of  McClellan  in 
1862. 

This  battle  was  practically  the  ending  of  the 
war.  On  the  2d  of  April,  which  fell  on  a  Sunday, 
President  Davis  received  a  telegram  from  Lee 
stating  that  his  lines  had  been  broken,  and  ad 
vising  the  evacuation  of  Richmond  that  night, 
providing  he  could  not  regain  his  position.  The 
evacuation  took  place.  The  gallant  defender  of 
the  Confederacy  could  do  no  more ;  the  persist 
ent  courage  of  his  able  antagonist,  aided  by 
overpowering  numbers,  had  won.  Richmond,  so 
long  planned  for,  fought  for,  hoped  for  by  the 
North,  was  now  her  prize.  It  fell  into  Federal 
hands  with  all  the  traditional  confusion  and  ter 
ror  which  accompany  the  taking  of  a  city.  The 
military  authorities  before  the  evacuation  or 
dered  the  burning  of  the  great  tobacco  ware 
house.  This  came  near  involving  the  whole  city 
in  a  general  conflagration.  Everybody  tried  to 
flee.  The  streets  were  blocked  by  the  inhabi 
tants  seeking  to  escape  with  their  belongings. 
The  commissary  depot  was  thrown  open  in  order 
that  the  inhabitants  might  help  themselves  to 
the  supplies,  and  retain  them  if  they  could. 

25 


386  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

On  the  morning  of  April  3  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  were  waving  over  the  Capitol.  Weitzel, 
with  a  small  force,  had  been  left  within  the  lines 
of  the  North  side.  He  was  instructed  to  make 
as  much  noise  as  possible,  so  as  to  make  a  show 
of  numbers.  This  he  did,  but  at  midnight,  hear 
ing  explosions  in  the  city,  he  rightly  judged  that 
Richmond  was  being  evacuated.  At  the  earliest 
dawn  his  troops  marched  into  the  city  and  went 
into  the  Capitol,  over  which  they  placed  the 
Union  flag.  The  city  was  an  awful  spectacle. 
Buildings  were  on  fire  in  every  direction.  The 
people  were  fleeing  in  terror  inspired  equally  by 
the  conflagration  and  the  Northern  soldiers. 
The  city  was  at  once  placed  under  martial  law, 
and  the  troops  were  forbidden  to  annoy  the  in 
habitants  or  molest  their  property.  On  the  fol 
lowing  day  there  was  rejoicing  in  every  Northern 
city,  town,  and  hamlet. 

How  would  the  fall  of  Richmond  affect  the 
Confederacy?  was  the  question  asked  in  the 
South.  The  war  could  of  course  go  on.  Lee 
rightly  claimed  that  in  the  mountains  of  Virginia 
he  could  continue  fighting  for  twenty  years ;  but 
with  the  fall  of  Richmond  there  was  nothing  left 
to  fight  for.  The  Richmond  Examiner  took  the 
only  intelligent  view  of  the  situation  when  it 
said: 

"Each   contestant   in   the   war  had   made   Richmond   the 

central  object  of  all  its  plans  and  all  its  exertions.     It  has 

become  the  symbol  of  the  Confederacy.     Its  loss  would  be 

-aterial  ruin  to  the  cause,  and,  in  a  moral  point  of  view, 


GRANT   ENDS   THE   STRUGGLE          387 

absolutely  destructive,  crushing  the  heart  and  extinguishing 
the  last  hope  of  the  country.  Our  armies  would  lose  the 
incentive  inspired  by  a  great  and  worthy  object  of  defence. 
Our  military  policy  would  be  totally  at  sea;  we  should  be 
without  a  hope  or  an  object;  without  civil  or  military 
organization ;  without  a  treasury  or  a  commissariat ;  with 
out  the  means  of  keeping  alive  a  wholesome  and  active 
public  sentiment ;  without  any  of  the  appliances  for  support 
ing  a  cause  depending  upon  a  popular  faith  and  enthusiasm ; 
without  the  emblems  or  the  semblance  of  nationality." 


When  this  view  of  the  matter  came  to  be  real 
ized,  the  commanders  of  the  South  were  wise 
and  broad-minded  enough  to  acquiesce  in  the 
cessation  of  hostilities  for  the  sake  of  prevent 
ing  further  and  unavailing  bloodshed.  It  is 
true,  Lee  pushed  up  the  Appomattox,  which 
he  crossed  on  the  night  of  April  2.  He  de 
sired  to  hold  himself  in  such  a  position  that  he 
could  take  time  for  consideration  of  the  outlook. 
Sheridan  followed  him,  cutting  off  such  troops 
as  were  delayed  in  getting  away  from  Richmond. 
By  the  5th  of  April  Lee  was  at  Amelia  Court- 
House,  thirty-six  miles  from  Richmond.  Meade 
was  at  his  rear  and  also  on  his  right  flank.  Sheri 
dan  was  in  front  of  him,  and  Ord  to  the  south. 
The  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  what  remained 
of  it,  was  entirely  surrounded.  Lee's  position 
made  battle  hopeless,  the  demoralization  of  his 
army  made  it  impossible.  The  men  were  desert 
ing  in  squads  and  the  Confederate  line  of  march 
was  strewn  with  abandoned  arms  and  equipment. 
The  belief  was  prevalent  in  the  army  that  the 
surrender  was  to  be  made.  Grant  wrote  to  Lee, 


388  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

April  7,  suggesting  the  good  policy  of  giving  up 
the  struggle  in  order  to  prevent  further  and 
useless  effusion  of  blood.  Several  letters  passed 
between  the  commanders.  Grant  declined  to 
meet  Lee  in  conference  except  on  the  under 
standing  that  their  coming  together  should  be 
for  the  purpose  of  surrender.  Nine  letters  in 
all  were  written  on  the  7th,  8th,  and  Qth  of 
April.  On  the  last-named  date  the  two  generals 
met  in  a  house  owned  by  Wilmer  McLean  at 
Appomattox,  and  with  the  least  possible  for 
mality  agreed  on  terms.  It  was  a  meeting 
between  two  brave,  honest,  sincere  Americans, 
each  respecting  the  other.  The  story  that  Lee 
tendered  Grant  his  sword,  which  the  latter  de 
clined  to  receive,  is  without  foundation.  No 
such  offer  was  made.  It  is  probable  that  Lee's 
army,  as  surrendered,  did  not  consist  of  over 
ten  thousand  men,  the  rest  having  absented 
themselves  without  leave  as  soon  as  it  became 
known  that  surrender  was  likely  to  occur.  The 
soldiers  were  paroled,  the  officers  were  allowed 
to  retain  their  side-arms,  horses,  and  personal 
effects,  but  all  other  arms  were  to  be  handed 
over  to  the  Federal  government. 

With  the  news  that  the  articles  of  surrender 
had  been  signed,  which  meant  that  the  war  was 
over,  the  North  went  into  a  paroxysm  of  joy. 
Stanton  uttered  the  prevalent  sentiment  when 
he  telegraphed  Grant :  "  Thanks  be  to  Almighty 
God  for  the  great  victory  with  which  He  has  this 
day  crowned  you  and  the  gallant  armies  under 


GRANT   ENDS   THE   STRUGGLE          389 

your  command.  The  thanks  of  this  Department, 
and  of  the  government,  and  of  the  United  States 
— their  reverence  and  honor  have  been  deserved 
— will  be  rendered  to  you  and  the  brave  and 
gallant  officers  and  soldiers  of  your  army  for 
all  time."  A  salute  of  two  hundred  guns  was 
ordered  fired  from  every  arsenal  and  fort.  The 
nation  was  mad  for  joy.  In  the  South  there  was 
corresponding  depression.  The  feelings  there, 
indeed,  were  mingled.  With  the  humiliation 
naturally  consequent  on  defeat,  the  sorrow  over 
a  lost  cause,  doubt  and  fear  as  to  the  future, 
there  was  a  sigh  of  relief  in  knowing  that  the 
strife  was  ended. 

Lee's  farewell  address  to  his  army  is  simple 
and  characteristic  of  this  taciturn  man;  and  yet 
it  shows  between  the  lines  a  world  of  pathos. 
He  wrote: 

"  GENERAL  ORDER  No.  9. 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS  ARMY  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA, 

"  April  10,  1865. 

"After  four  years  of  arduous  service,  marked  by  unsur 
passed  courage  and  fortitude,  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia  has  been  compelled  to  yield  to  overwhelming  numbers 
and  resources. 

"  I  need  not  tell  the  survivors  of  so  many  hard-fought 
battles,  who  have  remained  steadfast  to  the  last,  that  I  have 
consented  to  this  result  from  no  distrust  of  them ;  but, 
feeling  that  valor  and  devotion  could  accomplish  nothing 
that  could  compensate  for  the  loss  that  would  have  attended 
the  continuation  of  the  contest,  I  have  determined  to  avoid 
the  useless  sacrifice  of  those  whose  past  services  have  en 
deared  them  to  their  countrymen. 

"  By  the  terms  of  agreement,  officers  and  men  can  return 
to  their  homes  and  remain  there  until  exchanged. 


390  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

"  You  will  take  with  you  the  satisfaction  that  proceeds 
from  the  consciousness  of  duty  faithfully  performed ;  and 
I  earnestly  pray  that  a  merciful  God  will  extend  to  you  his 
blessing  and  protection. 

"  With  an  unceasing  admiration  of  your  constancy  and 
devotion  to  your  country,  and  a  grateful  remembrance  of 
your  kind  and  generous  consideration  of  myself,  I  bid  you 
an  affectionate  farewell. 

"  R.  E.  LEE, 

"  General." 

This  is  very  different  from  the  proclamation 
issued  on  the  5th  of  April  by  Jefferson  Davis : 

"  Animated  by  that  confidence  in  your  spirit  and  fortitude 
which  never  yet  failed  me,  I  announce  to  you,  fellow-coun 
trymen,  that  it  is  my  purpose  to  maintain  your  cause  with 
my  whole  heart  and  soul ;  that  I  will  never  consent  to 
abandon  to  the  enemy  one  foot  of  the  soil  of  any  of  the 
States  of  the  Confederacy;  that  Virginia — noble  State, 
whose  ancient  renown  has  been  eclipsed  by  her  still  more 
glorious  recent  history ;  whose  bosom  has  been  bared  to 
receive  the  main  shock  of  this  war;  whose  sons  and  daugh 
ters  have  exhibited  heroism  so  sublime  as  to  render  her 
illustrious  in  all  time  to  come — that  Virginia,  with  the  help 
of  the  people  and  by  the  blessing  of  Providence,  shall  be 
held  and  defended,  and  no  peace  ever  be  made  with  the 
infamous  invaders  of  her  territory."  ("Rise  and  Fall," 
vol.  ii.  p.  677.) 

Davis  was  of  the  opinion  that  Johnston,  who 
was  in  North  Carolina  closely  watched  by  Sher 
man,  needed  not  to  have  surrendered,  even  after 
Lee  was  compelled  to  do  so.  But  as  early  as  the 
23d  of  February,  when  Johnston  was  reinstated 
in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  the 
cause  of  the  Confederacy  appeared  to  him  hope 
less,  and  he  saw  no  good  in  continuing  the  fight- 


GRANT   ENDS   THE   STRUGGLE          391 

ing  except  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  better  terms 
of  peace.  He  was  directed  by  General  Lee  to 
drive  back  Sherman,  an  order  admirable  in  its 
comprehensiveness,  but  sorely  lacking  in  prac 
ticability  owing  to  the  small  number  and  scat 
tered  condition  of  Johnston's  available  troops. 
After  much  marching  and  two  or  three  unim 
portant  engagements,  the  Army  of  the  Tennes 
see  was  concentrated  near  Bentonville  on  the 
i8th  of  March.  On  the  iQth,  2Oth,  and  2ist  an 
engagement  occurred  at  this  place,  in  which  the 
Confederates,  though  they  had  the  advantage, 
were  not  able  to  prevent  Sherman  from  uniting 
with  Schofield.  On  the  22d  Johnston  moved  to 
wards  Raleigh.  April  n  he  heard  of  the  sur 
render  of  Lee,  and  immediately  decided  that 
further  resistance  on  his  part  was  useless.  He 
met  President  Davis,  by  appointment,  at  Greens 
boro  on  the  1 2th.  Mr.  Davis  argued  for  the 
continuance  of  the  war,  for  he  believed  that  a 
brave  stand  would  recall  the  soldiers  who  had 
deserted  and  arouse  the  spirit  of  the  country. 
Finding  no  support,  he  finally  persuaded  John 
ston  to  send  Sherman  a  letter  asking  for  an 
armistice.  The  contents  of  this  letter  were  as 
follows : 

"  The  results  of  the  recent  campaigns  in  Virginia  have 
changed  the  relative  military  condition  of  the  belligerents. 
I  am  therefore  induced  to  address  you,  in  this  form,  the 
inquiry  whether,  in  order  to  stop  the  further  effusion  of 
blood  and  devastation  of  property,  you  are  willing  to  make 
a  temporary  suspension  of  active  operations,  and  to  com 
municate  to  Lieutenant-General  Grant,  commanding  the 


392  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

armies  of  the  United  States,  the  request  that  he  will  take 
like  action  in  regard  to  other  armies, — the  object  being  to 
permit  the  civil  authorities  to  enter  into  the  needful  arrange 
ments  to  terminate  the  existing  war." 


General  Sherman  assented  to  a  meeting,  which 
took  place  on  the  following  day  at  a  house  on 
the  Raleigh  road.  The  first  thing  Sherman  did 
was  to  show  Johnston  a  telegram  announcing 
the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln.  This 
elicited  from  the  Confederate  general  the  dec 
laration  that  "  the  event  was  the  greatest  possi 
ble  calamity  to  the  South." 

General  Sherman  stated  that  an  armistice 
giving  opportunity  for  the  civil  powers  to  nego 
tiate  terms  of  peace  was  out  of  the  question ;  for 
Washington  would  never  consent  to  the  recogni 
tion  of  any  civil  capacity  on  the  part  of  the  lead 
ers  of  the  Confederacy.  Johnston  suggested 
that,  as  generals  had  been  known  to  arrange 
the  terms  of  a  permanent  peace,  so  they  might. 
After  considerable  discussion,  and  much  argu 
ment  as  to  whether  the  Confederate  President 
and  his  Cabinet  should  be  included  in  the  general 
amnesty,  a  Basis  of  Agreement  was  signed  by 
both  generals. 

This  was  rejected  by  the  government  of  the 
United  States.  Thereupon  General  Johnston 
asked  for  another  meeting.  An  agreement  of 
surrender  was  then  made  which  was  similar  in 
effect  to  that  between  Grant  and  Lee. 

The  acceptation  by  the  United  States  govern 
ment  of  the  first  basis  of  agreement  would  have 


GRANT   ENDS   THE   STRUGGLE          393 

produced  instant  peace  throughout  the  country. 
But  in  signing  it  Sherman  was  going  outside  his 
authority;  and  as  there  was  no  mention  of 
slavery  or  the  recent  legislation  on  slavery,  its 
adoption  might  have  resulted  in  hardly  less  con 
fusion  than  that  which  in  reality  ensued. 

The  smaller  armies  of  the  Confederacy  sur 
rendered  in  due  time, — that  of  Taylor,  in  Ala 
bama,  on  May  8,  and  that  of  Kirby  Smith,  on  May 
26,  at  Baton  Rouge.  The  ships  of  the  South  had, 
with  the  sole  exception  of  the  "  Shenandoah," 
been  swept  from  the  seas,  and  she,  after  destroy 
ing  the  American  whaling  fleet  and  sundry  craft 
captured  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  surrendered  in 
August,  1865,  a  date  whose  delay  can  hardly  be 
accounted  for  by  the  allegation  of  Waddell,  her 
commander,  that  prior  to  it  he  had  not  received 
trustworthy  information  of  the  close  of  the  war. 

No  better  evidence  of  the  good  faith  of  the 
South  could  be  furnished  than  the  fact  that  after 
the  surrender  not  a  gun  was  fired  against  the 
supporters  of  the  Federal  government. 


XVI 

RECONSTRUCTION 

THE  assassination  of  President  Lincoln  was  a 
greater  calamity  to  the  South  than  it  was  to  the 
North.  Jefferson  Davis  says  he  made  a  declara 
tion  to  this  effect  immediately  on  hearing  the 
news  of  that  sad  event,  though  he  admits  that  the 
Confederates  then  standing  around  him  cheered 
the  announcement  of  the  death  of  the  man  whom 
they  regarded  as  their  arch-enemy.  Lincoln 
strained  the  Constitution  beyond  its  limit  to  meet 
the  emergencies  occasioned  by  the  Civil  War; 
but  his  intention  was  ever  to  be  governed  by  the 
strict  letter  of  that  instrument.  His  proclama 
tion  and  message  of  December  8,  1863,  which 
must  be  accepted  as  the  plan  of  reconstruction  to 
which  he  consistently  adhered,  promised  all  per 
sons  who  took  sides  with  the  Confederacy,  ex 
cept  certain  described  classes,  amnesty  and  res 
toration  of  property  upon  their  taking  an  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  Union,  provided  they  also 
agreed  to  support  the  slavery  legislation  enacted 
during  the  war,  unless  repealed  by  Congress  or 
annulled  by  the  Supreme  Court.  No  mention 
was  made  of  any  purpose  of  conferring  the  suf 
frage  upon  emancipated  slaves,  though  as 
surances  of  permanent  freedom  were  given  to 
them.  It  was  the  universal  opinion  during  the 
394 


RECONSTRUCTION  395 

early  period  of  the  war  that  when  it  should  cease 
the  seceding  States  might  resume  their  original 
status  in  the  Union.  Many,  however,  adhered 
to  the  view  that  as  States  they  had  committed 
suicide,  and  that  they  should  be  simply  regarded 
as  Territories.  Stevens  held  that  they  should  be 
regarded  as  conquered  provinces. 

The  coming  strife  between  the  executive  and 
legislative  branches  of  the  government  over  the 
relations  of  the  confederated  States  to  those  of 
the  Union  had  been  foreshadowed  during  Lin 
coln's  administration  when  he  undertook  to  carry 
out  his  liberal  policy  of  "  restoration"  as  opposed 
to  the  fanatical  "  root  and  branch  vagaries"  of 
the  majority  in  Congress.  The  latter,  under  the 
guidance  of  men  like  Thaddeus  Stevens  and 
Charles  Sumner,  were  bent  on  "  reconstruction." 
The  difficulties  of  the  situation  were  increased, 
moreover,  by  several  factions  which  forced  on 
the  government  the  problems  never  before  thrust 
on  a  nation  at  the  close  of  a  mighty  struggle.  In 
the  first  place,  unfortunately  for  both  North  and 
South,  no  treaty  was  possible  at  the  close  of  hos 
tilities.  Then,  again,  the  Federal  character  of 
the  government  increased  rather  than  diminished 
the  gravity  of  the  situation.  Both  individuals 
and  States  had  to  be  dealt  with.  To  the  large- 
minded  Lincoln  the  solution  was  easy  enough. 
While  the  State  governments  that  had  existed 
under  the  protection  of  the  Confederacy  had  been 
destroyed,  the  States  themselves  survived,  and 
needed  merely  to  be  restored  to  their  former 


396  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

position  in  the  Union, — which  was  the  view  that 
in  the  end  prevailed.  If  individuals  were  to  be 
punished,  well  and  good,  but  a  State  could  not 
be  blotted  out. 

Seward  was  heartily  in  favor  of  this  plan.  His 
doctrine  was  one  of  reconciliation,  and  to  secure 
it  he  was  willing,  if  necessary,  to  go  to  the  extent 
of  a  declaration  of  war  against  France  over  the 
Mexican  question,  so  as  to  get  the  veterans 
of  both  sides  under  a  common  banner  again. 
Thirty-five  years  were  to  elapse  before,  in  the 
Spanish-American  War,  Seward's  hope  was  to  be 
realized.  Finally,  there  was  presented  to  the 
government  the  negro  problem.  What  was  to  be 
the  status  of  those  millions  of  blacks  who  had 
never  enjoyed  the  rights  of  marriage,  of  holding 
property,  making  contracts,  appearing  in  courts 
of  justice,  to  say  nothing  of  performing  civic 
duties?  Lincoln's  overshadowing  personality 
had  warded  off  an  open  breach  with  Congress, 
and  there  was  a  disposition  to  allow  him  to  try 
his  magnanimous  policy,  but  how  was  it  to  fare 
with  his  successor,  who  on  April  15,  1865,  came 
into  the  Presidency  and  for  the  next  four  years 
occupied  the  White  House?  All  eyes  were  now 
turned  on  him,  and  committee  after  committee 
eagerly  sought  to  obtain  some  indication  of  his 
policy. 

Johnson  was  unable  at  first  to  give  adequate 
expression  to  his  utter  detestation  of  all  the  lead 
ers  of  the  ill-starred  Confederacy.  "  Treason 
must  be  made  odious,"  was  his  favorite  text. 


BOOTH.  Tra.*KHar> 

War  Department,  Washington,  April  20,  (865 

AMI! 


I 


TIE  MURDERER 


Of  our  late  beloved  President,  Abraham  Lincoln, 

IS  STILL  AT  LARGE. 

§50,000  REWARD 

Will  be  paid  by  this  Deportment  for  his  apprehension,  in  addition  to  any  reward  offered  by 
Municipal  Authorities  or  State  Executives. 

$25,000  REWARD 


7M  be  paid  for  the  apprehension  of  JOHN  H  SOBBAT,  one  of  Booth's  Accomplices. 


$25,000  REWARD 


Will  be  paid  for  the  apprehension 


of  David  C.  Harold,  another  of  Booth's  accomplice*. 


I  hf  IVIIIIIK.H 

.-.{Maid  |)ilb!» 


l)t-i  lUlTJOSIi^-BOWIi  i-  Hie  I 
WWP  »  hM0  M**  mouBtochi-.  which  th<-n 
JOHK  ri.  SPRRAT  i-  •'         -   -    •  • 
«r«rfil«or  ISO,™,,, 


nmi  lh?  t»o.I  l.y 
,,«„.•,., mtl,i<,H-, 
ijfct  rmr  ,iax  ,mli 


and  nimWwwnt  trf  the  murJererv 
.,.r\  m»n  JimiM  «•>•«  hi><»«»' 


k .  —  TK  s^gsKg.--  seaatsg 

^STMSW  I^HHtd-       «  o,,,,>ie.vion  ^.her  ^  and  rtw  «lh  o,,lor  »  to>  *ejU  a,  ^p :  fo^te^ «— 
ll^T      Should,  r-  sq.Jr,:  d,U  hone,  nrbpr  pron,im;nt    ohm  nwn.- :  ""  Jf«**    J^S    A*.-* 

^2§isSgsa^w5S«^:w*J 

l80ki^«|B-  '^T" addiuoii  i  ''  "** 


POSTER    ANNOUNCING   THE   REWARD    FOR    THE   APPREHENSION    OF 
PRESIDENT    LINCOLN'S    ASSASSIN 


RECONSTRUCTION  39  7 

A  "  poor  white"  of  the  South,  he  had,  by  sheer 
force  of  his  great  natural  abilities,  risen  to  the 
highest  office  both  in  Tennessee  and  in  the  re 
public;  but  he  had  not  forgotten  many  real  as 
well  as  many  imaginary  injuries  he  had  experi 
enced  at  the  hands  of  those  who  regarded  them 
selves  as  his  social  superiors, — the  defeated  chief 
tains  of  the  South.  His  language  in  reference 
to  them  was  now  coarse,  harsh,  and  vindictive. 
Even  the  Northern  radicals,  in  the  intoxication  of 
victory,  felt  some  alarm,  and  counselled  modera 
tion.  Soon,  however,  there  was  a  complete 
change  in  the  attitude  of  the  President.  What 
caused  it?  There  were  some  who  said  that 
Seward,  the  diplomatic,  sagacious  Secretary  of 
State,  obtained  the  mastery  and  persuaded  John 
son  that  Lincoln's  policy  was  the  only  wise  and 
safe  one.  Others  maintained  that  Johnson  was 
cajoled  by  the  Southern  leaders,  whose  blandish 
ments  were  irresistible, — that  he  wished  to  gain 
their  favor.  Then  again  there  were  not  a  few 
who  were  inclined  to  see  in  his  opposition  to 
negro  enfranchisement  and  reconstruction  the 
hereditary  views  of  a  Southerner.  Possibly  there 
was  truth  in  all  these  claims.  But  none  of  them 
does  justice  to  Johnson's  ability.  He  saw  clearly 
in  time  the  true  state  of  things,  and  history  has 
justified  his  course.  To  his  credit  be  it  said,  he 
bravely  adhered  to  it  through  every  sort  of  per 
secution. 

Andrew  Johnson  sought  to  give  actuality  to 
the  policy  of  re-establishment  held  by  his  prede- 


398  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

cessor.  He  agreed  with  Lincoln  that  as  soon  as 
"  rebellion"  ceased  the  insurgent  States,  under 
the  Constitution,  necessarily  resumed  their  posi 
tion,  privileges,  and  responsibilities  in  the  Union, 
that  the  amnesty  reinstated  the  voters.  But,  un 
fortunately,  Johnson  had  not  Lincoln's  savoir 
faire.  He  was  a  stubborn,  aggressive,  tactless 
man,  absolutely  incapable  of  accommodating 
himself  in  any  way  to  those  who  differed  with 
him.  His  sympathies  were  wholly  with  the 
South,  except  upon  the  one  point  of  the  Union. 
Being  a  Democrat,  he  was  naturally  an  object  of 
extreme  jealousy  on  the  part  of  Congress.  It 
was  predisposed  to  view  his  acts  with  suspicion. 
His  manner  and  disposition  did  not  in  the  least 
tend  to  alleviate  this  attitude. 

On  May  29,  1865,  Johnson  issued  this  procla 
mation  : 

"  To  the  end,  therefore,  that  the  authority  of  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  may  be  restored,  and  that  peace, 
order,  and  freedom  may  be  re-established,  I,  Andrew  John 
son,  President  of  the  United  States,  do  proclaim  and  declare 
that  I  hereby  grant  to  all  persons  who  have  directly  or  indi 
rectly  participated  in  the  existing  rebellion,  except  as  herein 
after  excepted,  amnesty  and  pardon,  with  restoration  of  all 
rights  of  property,  except  as  to  slaves,  and  except  in  cases 
where  legal  proceedings  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
providing  for  the  confiscation  of  property  of  persons  engaged 
in  the  rebellion  have  been  instituted;  but  on  the  condition, 
nevertheless,  that  every  such  person  shall  take  and  subscribe 
the  following  oath  or  affirmation,  and  thenceforward  keep 
and  maintain  said  oath  inviolate;  and  which  oath  shall  be 
registered  for  permanent  preservation,  and  shall  be  of  the 
tenor  and  effect  following, — to  wit: 

"'I,  ,   do   solemnly  swear    (or  affirm),  in 


RECONSTRUCTION  399 

presence  of  Almighty  God,  that  I  will  henceforth  faithfully 
support  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
and  the  Union  thereunder,  and  that  I  will,  in  like  manner, 
abide  by  and  faithfully  support  all  laws  and  proclamations 
which  have  been  made  during  the  existing  rebellion  with 
reference  to  the  emancipation  of  slaves,  so  help  me  God.'  " 


In  obedience  to  Johnson's  proclamation  and  in 
conformity  with  Lincoln's  policy  of  restoration, 
the  properly  qualified  classes  of  white  citizens 
met  in  conventions  throughout  the  Southern 
States  directly  after  the  war  and  erected  "  pro 
visional  governments,"  composed  for  the  most 
part  of  reputable  citizens  who  had  taken  the  oath 
of  allegiance  required  by  law.  The  single  excep 
tion  perhaps  was  Tennessee,  whose  "  Lincoln 
government"  was  kept  up.  The  continuation  of 
these  provisional  governments  depended  on  the 
temper  of  the  North  and  the  South.  General 
Grant,  who  made  a  short  visit  to  the  Southern 
States  soon  after  the  war,  made  a  most  favor 
able  report  to  the  President  regarding  the  con 
dition  of  affairs  there.  Shortly  afterwards, 
however,  Carl  Schurz,  after  a  more  protracted 
stay  in  the  defeated  section,  gave  a  most  dis 
couraging  account  not  only  of  the  sentiments  of 
the  South  towards  the  negro,  but  towards  the 
Federal  government  itself.  It  was  this  report, 
more  than  anything  else,  that  brought  about  the 
extreme  measures  of  the  reconstruction  era 
which  were  in  force  until  nullified  by  the  political 
revolution  of  1876. 

On  February  i,  1865,  Congress  had  proposed 


400  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

to  the  States  the  Thirteenth  Amendment  to  the 
Constitution,  prohibiting  slavery.  Under  the 
Constitution  the  ratification  of  three-fourths  of 
the  States  was  necessary  to  render  this  valid. 
Delaware  and  Kentucky  refused  to  ratify.  Flor 
ida  and  Mississippi  did  not  act  upon  the  amend 
ment  at  this  time.  Texas  had  not  reorganized. 
The  Amendment  consequently  was  ratified  by 
sixteen  free  and  eleven  formerly  slave-holding 
States.  Thus  the  Amendment  was  accepted  by 
exactly  the  necessary  three-fourths.  A  dilemma 
was  here  rendered  unavoidable :  either  the  for 
mer  Confederate  States  were  in  possession  of 
valid  and  legitimate  governments,  or  the  Amend 
ment  was  not  constitutionally  ratified.  The 
Southern  States  which  voted  had  reorganized  in 
accordance  with  the  President's  proclamation. 

These  Southern  States  had  in  all  good  faith 
accepted  the  conditions  laid  upon  them  by  the 
results  of  the  war.  They  also  received  Federal 
garrisons  in  all  the  large  towns.  They  proceeded 
to  legislate  in  regard  to  the  emancipated  negroes 
in  a  spirit  which  after  events  have  since  proved 
to  have  been  wise  and  necessary  to  domestic 
well-being;  but,  however  desirable  the  measures, 
they  were  ill-timed.  The  Southern  Legislatures 
could  not  but  view  with  the  most  serious  appre 
hension  the  advent  to  unaccustomed  and  unre 
strained  freedom  of  the  vast  horde  of  negroes 
suddenly  released  from  the  patriarchal  restraints 
customarily  imposed  on  them.  These  people 
were  without  houses  and  without  means  of  sub- 


RECONSTRUCTION  401 

sistence  except  labor  under  entirely  new  condi 
tions.  Enactments  which  bore  particularly  upon 
the  negroes  were  made  in  regard  to  labor  con 
tracts  and  vagrancy.  Offences  of  a  minor  degree 
were  made  punishable  by  compulsory  labor,  to 
which  the  culprit  was  hired  out  by  judicial  pro 
cess.  In  some  States  it  was  made  requisite  that 
the  freedman  should  obtain  written  contracts  or 
licenses  to  work.  The  man  not  able  to  show  such 
a  license  was  subject  to  arrest  for  vagrancy  and 
to  consequent  compulsory  labor.  Minors  were  to 
serve  an  apprenticeship  until  they  came  to  a  cer 
tain  age.  It  was  indeed  a  system  by  which  the 
negro  would  be  gradually  initiated  into  the  full 
rights  of  his  freedom,  and  the  white  population 
in  the  mean  time  safeguarded  against  the  mani 
fest  dangers  which  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves 
entailed.  But  all  this  seemed  to  the  people  of  the 
North  like  an  attempt  to  evade  the  effects  of 
abolition.  It  was  another  instance  of  setting  an 
incontrovertible  theory  over  against  an  irrecon 
cilable  condition. 

Strenuous  and  successful  effort  was  made  by 
the  Republican  legislators  to  thwart  and  invali 
date  the  process  of  reinstatement  which  was 
going  on  in  the  South  under  the  proclamation  of 
the  President.  An  act  had  been  passed  in  March, 
1863,  creating  in  the  War  Department  a  "  Bu 
reau  of  Refugees,  Freedmen,  and  Abandoned 
Lands."  This  was  to  be  the  legal  guardian  of 
the  negro. 

The  best  friends  of  this  institution  admit  that 
26 


402  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

it  deteriorated  into  an  abuse.  Its  real  history  is 
one  of  official  corruption  and  tyranny  the  like  of 
which  can  be  paralleled  in  no  other  civilized  coun 
try.  It  was  made  an  engine  by  which  Northern 
adventurers  enriched  themselves  and  Republican 
majorities  were  heaped  up  by  enforced  or  cajoled 
negro  votes.  A  faithful  stirring  of  the  history  of 
the  Freedmen's  Bureau  cannot  fail  to  make  mani 
fest  an  exceedingly  bad  odor.  It  was  the  pet 
instrument  of  the  detestable  "  carpet-bagger,"  a 
Northern  adventurer,  or  the  pliant  tool  of  the 
"  scalawag,"  a  Southern  renegade. 

Congress  was  all  the  more  disposed  to  arbi 
trary  measures  in  relation  to  the  defeated  South 
ern  States  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  President 
Johnson  had  forestalled  it  by  reinstating  those 
Commonwealths.  The  North  was  determined 
to  be  governed  in  her  action  towards  the  pros 
trate  South  by  a  spirit  which  was  denoted 
by  the  watchword  "  Thorough."  It  meant  a 
thorough  adjustment  of  the  condition  of  the 
negro  in  accordance  with  a  radical  view  of  his 
rights;  it  had  in  view  a  complete  subjugation  of 
the  recalcitrant  States  in  order  that  the  State 
rights  theory  should  never  again  lift  its  head  in 
opposition  to  the  central  government.  Congress 
proceeded  to  legislate  under  the  assumption 
that  all  Federal  law  had  been  suspended,  by  their 
act  of  rebellion,  in  the  States  which  had  partici 
pated  in  the  Confederacy,  and  that  such  law 
could  not  be  revived  except  by  the  declaration 
of  Congress.  Thus  Congress  assumed  the  right 


RECONSTRUCTION  403 

to  reconstruct  the  Southern  States  in  any  way  it 
should  see  fit;  for  it  was  maintained  that  even 
the  State  governments  themselves  at  the  South, 
except  those  like  the  Pierpont  machine  in  Vir 
ginia,  and  similar  creatures  of  the  Northern  gov 
ernment  in  Louisiana,  Tennessee,  and  Arkansas, 
necessarily  fell  with  the  Confederacy. 

In  accordance  with  this  view,  when  Congress 
reassembled  in  1865  the  seceding  States  were 
omitted  from  the  roll-call.  A  resolution  passed 
both  houses  to  the  effect  that  neither  Senators 
nor  Representatives  should  be  received  from  the 
seceding  States  until  Congress  had  readmitted 
those  States  to  the  Union,  although,  in  accord 
ance  with  the  suggestions  of  the  President, 
Southern  Representatives,  duly  elected,  were 
ready  to  take  their  seats.  The  troops  were  still 
in  the  South;  it  was  martial  law  de  facto;  the 
transition  to  de  jure  was  scarcely  necessary. 

Now  began  a  strife  between  the  President  and 
Congress,  which  forms  the  least  respectable 
phase  of  American  history. 

On  March  2,  1867,  radical  measures  were 
adopted  in  relation  to  the  Southern  States.  The 
preamble  of  the  first  act,  though  it  can  scarcely 
be  substantiated  in  fact,  expressed  the  purpose 
of  these  measures. 

"  WHEREAS,  No  legal  State  governments,  or  adequate  pro 
tection  for  life  or  property,  now  exist  in  the  rebel  States  of 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama, 
Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Florida,  Texas,  and  Arkansas;  and 
whereas,  it  is  necessary  that  peace  and  good  order  should 


404  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

be  enforced  in  said  States,  until  loyal  and  republican  State 
governments  can  be  legally  established;  therefore,  be  it 
enacted,"  etc. 

The  bill  was  passed  over  the  President's  veto. 
By  it  the  South  was  divided  into  five  military  dis 
tricts,  each  under  a  general  officer  of  the  Union 
army.  The  President,  in  his  message  vetoing 
the  bill,  said, — 

"  Thus,  over  all  these  ten  States,  this  military  government 
is  now  declared  to  have  unlimited  authority.  It  is  no  longer 
confined  to  the  preservation  of  the  public  peace,  the  admin 
istration  of  criminal  law,  the  registration  of  voters,  and  the 
superintendence  of  elections ;  but,  '  in  all  respects/  is  as 
serted  to  be  paramount  to  the  existing  civil  government.  It 
is  impossible  to  conceive  any  state  of  society  more  intolerable 
than  this,  and  yet  it  is  to  this  condition  that  twelve  millions 
of  American  citizens  are  reduced  by  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States.  Over  every  part  of  the  immense  territory 
occupied  by  these  American  citizens  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  is  theoretically  in  full  operation.  It  binds 
all  the  people,  then,  and  should  protect  them;  yet  they  are 
denied  every  one  of  its  sacred  guarantees.  Of  what  avail 
will  it  be  to  any  one  of  these  Southern  people,  when  seized 
by  a  file  of  soldiers,  to  ask  for  the  cause  of  arrest,  or  for 
the  production  of  the  warrant?  Of  what  avail  to  ask  for  the 
privilege  of  bail  when  in  military  custody,  which  knows  no 
such  thing  as  bail  ?  Of  what  avail  to  demand  a  trial  by 
jury,  process  for  witnesses,  a  copy  of  the  indictment,  the 
privilege  of  counsel,  or  that  greater  privilege,  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus?" 

But  the  President's  own  reasoning  was  equally 
unavailing.  An  absolutely  partisan  Congress 
was  perfectly  able,  and  more  than  willing,  to  pass 
its  measures  over  his  veto. 

In  June,  1866,  Congress  proposed  to  the 
States  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  to  the  Con- 


GENERAL    LEE   ON    "TRAVELLER1 


RECONSTRUCTION  405 

stitution.  The  purpose  of  this  was  to  incorpo 
rate  the  provisions  of  the  above-mentioned  bill 
in  the  fundamental  law.  It  stated  that  "  all  per 
sons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States  and 
subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof"  should  be  ac 
knowledged  as  citizens  of  the  United  States.  By 
December,  1866,  when  the  new  Congress  came 
together,  many  of  the  Southern  States  had  re 
jected  this  Amendment.  Thereupon  measures 
were  taken  by  which  reconstruction  along  the 
lines  laid  down  by  the  triumphant  party  might 
be  enforced.  Preparatory  to  this,  universal  suf 
frage  was  established  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
and  in  the  Territories  in  spite  of  a  veto ;  General 
Grant  was  put  in  charge  of  the  whole  military 
arm  of  the  government,  and  his  position  was 
rendered  almost  independent  of  the  President; 
the  Tenure  of  Office  Act,  an  unwarranted  meas 
ure,  was  passed,  designedly  to  subject  the  Presi 
dent's  appointments  to  and  removals  from  office 
to  the  approval  of  the  Senate.  It  was  this  last 
which  ostensibly  resulted  in  the  impeachment  of 
President  Johnson.  He  demanded  the  resigna 
tion  of  Secretary  Stanton ;  the  latter,  refusing  to 
resign,  was  superseded  by  the  President  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  terms  of  the  Act.  Congress, 
on  reassembling  in  December,  1867,  refused  to 
permit  Stanton's  removal.  President  Johnson 
determined  to  ignore  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act, 
and  again  removed  Stanton.  Thereupon,  in  Feb 
ruary,  1868,  the  House  voted  to  impeach  the 
President  for  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors. 


406  THE   TRUE   CIVIL   WAR 

The  Senate  closed  the  trial  on  May  16,  when  the 
vote  stood  thirty-five  for  conviction  and  nine 
teen  for  acquittal;  a  two-thirds  majority  being 
required  for  conviction,  the  President  was  ac 
quitted  by  one  vote,  and  Stanton  resigned  his 
office. 

It  is  said  that  a  conviction  of  Johnson  was 
never  intended;  that  the  Senate  secretly  decided 
to  come  within  one  vote  of  the  fatal  act.  The 
whole  trial  was  a  farce  from  beginning  to  end. 
The  President  was  impeached  for  one  thing,  but 
tried  for  another,  and  the  decisions  of  the  Chief 
Justice  in  matters  of  evidence  were  again  and 
again  overruled  by  the  "  rump"  Congress.  As 
was  cleverly  said  at  the  time,  Johnson  was  tried 
for  declaring  that  the  Southern  States  were  in 
the  Union,  and  at  the  same  time  Jefferson  Davis 
was  languishing  in  prison  because  he  said  they 
were  not  in  the  Union. 

When  Jefferson  Davis  fled  from  Richmond  the 
Northern  government  offered  a  reward  of  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  for  his  arrest,  and  on 
May  10,  1865,  he  was  captured  in  Georgia.  The 
conduct  of  the  Federal  authorities  towards  the 
fallen  chieftain  was  vulgar  and  inexcusable  from 
beginning  to  end.  First  came  the  cowardly  story 
that  he  was  attired  in  woman's  apparel  when 
apprehended,  which  was  proved  to  be  a  delib 
erate  fabrication.  Then  came  his  imprisonment 
in  Fortress  Monroe,  where  he  was  treated  with 
a  cruelty  and  insolence  that  seem  almost  in 
credible.  He  was  never  brought  to  trial.  There 


RECONSTRUCTION  407 

was  much  cheap  blustering  about  the  necessity 
of  executing  him  as  well  as  other  Southern 
leaders;  but  fortunately,  Philip  drunk  was  over 
ruled  by  Philip  sober,  and  the  danger  of  outrage 
and  death  passed  from  the  chiefs  of  the  Lost 
Cause.  The  trial  of  Davis  would  have  involved, 
as  of  course,  the  whole  question  of  secession,  a 
cause  decided  by  the  sword,  with  the  bare  possi 
bility  that  the  Supreme  Court  might  have  re 
versed  the  decision. 

On  March  2,  1867,  Congress  passed  the  "  Re 
construction  Act."  An  election  was  to  be  held 
in  each  State  for  delegates  to  a  State  Conven 
tion.  The  military  commanders  were  to  enroll 
in  each  State  all  legal  voters,  in  accordance  with 
the  terms  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment.  This 
enrolment  included  the  negroes,  and  excluded 
the  great  majority  of  the  intelligent  Southern 
men  who  had  taken  part  in  the  war,  therefore  the 
conventions  were  not  difficult  to  handle.  The 
conventions  were  instructed  to  frame  constitu 
tions  in  which  the  franchise  was  extended  to  all 
classes  of  citizens  in  accordance  with  the  Amend 
ment.  To  these  same  voters  the  constitutions 
were  to  be  submitted  and  then  sent  to  Congress. 
Each  State  was  to  be  readmitted  to  representa 
tion  as  soon  as  the  Legislature  convened  under 
these  new  constitutions  should  ratify  the  Four 
teenth  Amendment. 

By  means  of  this  process,  which  can  hardly 
be  called  popular,  the  two  Carolinas,  Georgia, 
Florida,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  and  Arkansas  were 


408  THE   TRUE    CIVIL   WAR 

prepared  for  readmission  by  the  end  of  June, 
1868.  Mississippi,  Virginia,  and  Texas  were  de 
layed  by  the  difficulty  with  which,  through  the 
manipulation  of  the  voters,  majorities  could  be 
obtained  for  the  constitutions  framed  by  the 
reconstructing  conventions.  Georgia  was  not 
readmitted  until  January  30,  1871,  on  account 
of  the  fact  that  her  laws  had  declared  negroes 
ineligible  to  hold  office.  Tennessee's  old  Union 
government  was  maintained,  although  it  repre 
sented  the  Lincoln  plan  of  restoration  rather 
than  the  Congressional  theory  of  reconstruc 
tion.  For  eight  years  the  new  governments, 
propped  up  by  Federal  bayonets,  plundered  the 
South  and  kept  that  section  in  a  state  of  anarchy 
that  beggars  description.  The  rancor  and  bit 
terness  that  the  South  subsequently  displayed, 
and  in  not  a  few  instances  yet  holds,  was  not 
caused  so  much  by  the  losses  sustained  during 
the  Civil  War  as  by  the  treatment  she  after 
wards  received  at  the  hands  of  the  North.  The 
former  were  regarded  as  the  inevitable  incidents 
of  war,  and  accepted  as  such ;  the  latter  was  the 
outcome  of  the  desire  for  revenge  and  plunder 
made  possible  by  the  illogical  theories  of  in 
competent  Congressmen  backed  by  demagogues 
and  a  rabidly  sectional  press.  But,  in  spite  of  all 
adversities  and  opposition,  the  South  has  gained 
the  confidence  of  the  financial  interests  of  the 
United  States,  and  her  material  advancement,  in 
which  her  own  sons  have  taken  the  chief  part,  has 
been  rapid  and  noteworthy.  She  has,  too,  by  the 


RECONSTRUCTION  409 

political  revolution  of  1876,  begun  the  move 
ment  that  has  to-day  given  her  the  mastery  of 
her  own  peculiar  circumstances;  and,  withal,  she 
has  convinced  the  country  that  she  is  a  loyal 
section  of  a  Union  of  which  she  is  justly  proud. 


Index 

A 

Abolition,  sentiment  not  at  first  sectional,  18;  grows  in 
North,  19,  36;  becomes  sectional,  20;  movement  origi 
nated  in  Massachusetts,  34;  development  of  movement, 
52;  stages  of  movement,  65,  81 ;  societies,  65,  68;  jour 
nals,  66;  campaign,  67;  arrest  and  mobbing  of  advocates 
of,  in  North,  69,  70;  churches  indifferent  towards,  73; 
Clay's  resolutions  against,  74;  its  advocates  and  the  poli 
ticians,  82;  Webster  denounces  advocates  of,  85;  Sew- 
ard's  higher  law,  88;  movement  aided  by  Fugitive  Slave 
law,  91 ;  "  Dred  Scott  decision"  strengthens,  128 ;  lead 
ers'  implication  in  Harper's  Ferry  raid,  132,  144;  advo 
cates  of,  faithless  to  Union,  161,  162;  acute  stage  of,  247; 
partially  declared,  282,  283;  Greeley  advocates,  320;  Lin 
coln's  indecision  as  to,  323 

Adams,  Charles  Francis,  260 
J.  H.,  155 
John  Q.,  76 

"  Alabama,"  196,  258 
claims,  198,  199 

Alabama  secedes,  171 

Amnesty  proclaimed,  398 

Andersonville  prison,  367 

Antietam,  battle  of,  316-318 

Appomattox,  surrender  at,  388 

Atlanta  campaign,  362-364 
given  to  the  flames,  366 

B 

Ball's  Bluff,  battle  at,  250 

Banks,  General,  300,  350 

Barnwell,  R.  W.,  155 

Beauregard,  General  P.  G.  T.,  187,  275 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  114 

"Beecher's  Bible,"  115 

411 


412  INDEX 

Belmont,  battle  at,  250 

Bentonville,  battle  at,  391 

Beverly,  surrender  at,  202 

Big  Black  River,  battle  of,  286 

"  Bill  of  Abominations,"  63 

"  Black  Law"  in  Connecticut,  71 

Blair,  F.  P.,  372 

Blockade,  191,  219,  252 

"  Bounty  jumping,"  344 

Bragg,  General,  275,  290-293 

Brandy  Station,  battle  at,  336,  337 

Breckenridge,  John  C,  152,  376 

Brooke,  Lieutenant,  254 

Brown,  Governor  of  Georgia,  365 

John,  118,  132,  134,  142 
Buchanan,  Captain,  254 

James,  122,  155,  162,  168,  172 
Buckner,  General,  269 
Buell,  General,  275,  284 
Bull  Run,  battle  of,  203,  311 
"  Bureau  of  Refugees,"  401 
Burney,  James  G.,  70 
Burns,  the  fugitive  slave,  92 
Burnside,  General,  293,  307,  316,  325-327,  330 
Butler,  General,  195,  281,  374 

C 

Cabinet  dissensions,  327 
Calhoun,  64,  79,  84 

California  admitted  to  Union,  86;    attitude  of,  during  con 
flict,  218 

Cameron,  Secretary,  266 
Cape  Hatteras,  engagement  at,  253 
^Carrick's  Ford,  battle  at,  202 
Carthage,  battle  at,  244 

Causes  of  conflict,  n,  13,  56,  103,  104,  107,  109 
Cedar  Creek,  battle  of,  379 
Cedar  Mountain,  battle  of,  309 
Champion  Hill,  battle  of,  286 
Chancellorsville,  battle  of,  335 
Chantilli,  battle  of,  313 


INDEX  413 

Charleston,  fire  at,  370 
Chase,  Secretary  Salmon  P.,  346 
Chattanooga,  battle  of,  293 
Chickamauga,  battle  of,  290 
Churches'  attitude  towards  abolition,  73 
Clay's  Compromise,  65,  83 
Cold  Harbor,  battle  at,  373 
Colonization,  influence  of  on  sectionalism,  15 
Columbia,  burning  of,  369 
Compromise  Bill,  89,  102 
Confederacy,  limits  of,  217 

Confederate  Constitution,  171,  177;    Cabinet,  177;    Congress, 
178;  leaders,  235;  government  established,  273 ;   terms 
of  peace  proposed,  358 
States  readmitted,  408 
Confiscation  measures,  234,  246 
Congress,  210,  284,  285,  403 
Conscription  Acts,  328,  329,  335;    riots,  331 
"  Copperheads,"  329 

D 
Dana,  Charles  A.,  292 

Richard  H.,  328 
Davis,  Jefferson,  129,  135,  137,  138,   146,  273,  380,  382,  390, 

391,  406 

Democratic  party,  93,  130,  179,  329,  359 
Democratic-Republican  party,  107 
Desertions,  333 
"  Doughfaces,"  60 
Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  95,  99,  127,  136,  137,  139,  141,  144,  147, 

152,  153 

£ 

Early,  General,  376-380 
Ellsworth,  Colonel,  199 
Emigrant  Aid  Society,  118 
England   resents   seizure  of   Southern   Commissioners,   260, 

261 

Enlistment  bounties,  344 

Emancipation  Proclamation,  321 ;   a  war  measure,  323 
Ericsson,  John,  255 
Ewell,  General,  336,  337 
Exchange  of  prisoners,  367 


414  INDEX 

P 

Fair  Oaks,  battle  of,  302 

Farragut,  Admiral,  277,  361 

Federal  party,  107 

Fillmore,  Millard,  86,  88,  123 

Fisher's  Hill,  battle  at,  379 

Five  Forks,  battle  of,  384 

"  Florida,"  the,  196,  259 

Florida  secedes,  171 ;   emancipation  proclamation,  320 

Floyd,  John  B.,  168,  170,  180,  222,  268,  270 

Foote,  Commander  A.  H.,  268,  277 

Foreign  powers,  attitude  of,  179-184 

Fort  Donelson  taken,  268 

Fort  Henry  taken,  268 

Fort  Moultrie,  169,  170 

Fort  Pillow,  350 

Fort  Sumter,  185-188 

Fourteenth  Amendment,  404 

France,  attitude  of,  263 

Fredericksburg,  battle  of,  335 

Fremont,  John  C,  123,  246,  248,  357 

Fugitive  Slave  law,  86,  89,  91,  102 

O 

Gaines  Mill,  battle  of,  303 

Galveston  bombarded,  253 

Garrison,  W.  L.,  65,  69,  100,  160 

Georgia  secedes,  171;  emancipation  proclamation,  320;  pil 
lage  in,  366;  Sherman's  campaign  in,  351 

Gettysburg,  battle  of,  338-340 

Gillmore,  General,  370 

Gordon,  General,  384 

Grant,  General,  267,  271,  272,  275-277,  283,  285,  287,  288,  313, 
345,  346,  405 

Grant's  campaigns,  347~35O,  372-388 

Greeley,  Horace,  125,  152,  159,  320,  359 

H 

Habeas  Corpus,  suspension  of  writ  of,  211,  324 
Halleck,  General,  277,  307,  337 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  156 


INDEX  415 


Hampton,  General  Wade,  369 

Hampton  Roads,  Federal  fleet  sails  from,  252 

Hardee,  General,  368 

Harper's  Ferry,  316 

Hartford  Convention,  100 

Helper,  Hinton  R.,  141,  146 

Hill,  General  A.  P.,  317,  336,  385 

Hood,  General,  362,  381,  382 

Hooker,  General,  292,  316,  327,  333-338 

Houston,  Sam,  75 

Hunter,  General,  319,  376 

I 

Imboden,  General,  376 
Indians  in  Confederate  army,  289 
Industrial  developments,  102 

J 

Jackson,  Andrew,  362 

General  (Stonewall),  300,  301,  335 
Johnson,  Andrew,  396-406 
Johnston,  General  A.  S.,  267,  273,  274 

General  Joseph  E.,  302,  351-355,  362,  39O~3Q2 


Kansas,  112  et  seq. 
Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  98,  100,  102 
Kearney,  General  Philip,  306,  313 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  battle  of,  354 
Kentucky  saved  to  the  Union,  250 
Knoxville  relieved,  293 

L 

Lecompte,  Judge,  115 
Lee,  General  Fitzhugh,  384 

Robert  E.,  132,  192,  303-306,  34O,  349,  383,  3^5,  3 
Letters  of  marque,  191,  195 
Lexington,  battle  of,  248 
Libby  prison,  367 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  135,  136,  138-141,  147,  151-153, 
213,  247,  320,  356,  372,  381,  392,  394 


4i  6  INDEX 

Longstreet,  General,  312,  339 
Lookout  Mountain  gained,  292 
Louisiana,  96,  171 
purchase,  102 

Lovejoy,  abolitionist  editor,  assassinated,  70 
Lower  Mississippi  expedition,  350 
Lundy,  Benjamin,  father  of  abolitionism,  65 
Lyon,  Major-General,  244 

X 

Malvern  Hill,  battle  of,  305 
Manassas  (Bull  Run),  battle  of,  203,  311 
"  March  to  the  Sea,"  365-368 
Martial  law,  320,  330,  404 
Marye's  Heights,  battle  of,  326 
Maryland,  invasion  of,  314-318,  376 
Mason,  George,  158 
Mason's  seizure  on  "  Trent,"  179,  260 
May,  Samuel  J.,  69,  71,  72 
McClellan,  General,  216,  252,  294-319,  360 
McDowell,  engagement  at,  300 

General,  216 

McPherson,  General,  351 
Meade,  General  G.  G.,  338 
"  Merrimac,"  253-256 
Mexican  War,  78,  102 
Mexico,  slavery  abolished  in,  75 
Mill  Springs,  battle  at,  267 
Minnesota  admitted  to  statehood,  131 
Missionary  Ridge  gained,  292 
Mississippi  secedes,  171 

operations  on  the,  279,  285 
Missouri,  campaign  in,  244 

question,  55,  60,  61,  96,  99,  102,  127 
Mobile  Bay,  victory  in,  361 
"  Monitor,"  255,  256,  297 
Monocacy  Bridge,  battle  at,  377 
Morris,  Lieutenant,  255 

N 

Nashville,  battle  at,  382 
National  Antislavery  Society,  68 


INDEX  417 

Navy,  Union,  219,  225,  226,  252-256,  278,  286 

Confederate,  228,  252-254,  393 
Nebraska,  96 

Negro  educators  attacked  in  Connecticut  and  New  Hamp 
shire,  71 

Negroes  in  Union  army,  322 ;    condition  after  war,  401 
New  England  Antislavery  Society,  68 
New  Mexico,  102 
New  Orleans  bombarded,  279 

taken,  281 

North,  resources  of,  214 
Northern  excesses,  370 

farmers  sell  slaves,  17 

officers  in  Confederate  service,  193 
Nullification,  63,  109 

0 

O'Brien,  Colonel  Henry  J.,  332 
Oregon  admitted  to  statehood,  131 
Orr,  James  L.,  155 


Parker,  Theodore,  86,  92,  143 
Pea  Ridge,  battle  of,  289 
Peace  Congress,  173 

Commissioners,  359,  372 
Peach-tree  Creek,  battles  at,  363 
Pegram  surrenders  at  Beverly,  202 
Pemberton,  General,  286,  287 
Pensacola  bombarded,  253 
Perryville,  battle  at,  284 
"  Personal  Liberty"  laws,  49 
Petersburg,  battle  of,  374,  385 
Phillips,  Wendell,  92,  152,  161 
Pickens,  F.  W.,  167,  185 
Pierce,  Franklin,  93,  95 
Political  crimes,  331 

parties,  no,  123 

prisoners,  343 
Politics  in  the  war,  319 
Polk,  General,  353 

27 


418  INDEX 

Pope,  General,  279,  307-312 

Popular   (or  squatter)   sovereignty,  99,  148 

Porter,  Admiral  D.  B.,  280,  286 

General  Fitzjohn,  306,  312 
Port  Royal  gained,  253 
Privateering,  191,  196-198,  256 

a 

Quincy,  Josiah,  on  secession,  77 

B, 

Readmission  of  Confederate  States,  408 

Reconstruction,  394-409 

Republican  party,  54,  in,  124,  143,  361 

Reynolds,  General,  338 

Richmond  attacked  by  Union  fleet,  299 ;    siege  of,  383 ;    fall 

of,  385 

Rich  Mountain,  battle  of,  201 
Riots  in  New  York,  331 
Rosecrans,  General,  284,  290 


"  San  Jacinto,"  179,  260 
Santa  Anna,  75 
Savannah  surrendered,  368 
Schofield,  General,  351 
Schurz,  Carl,  60,  399 
Scott,  Dred,  126,  131 

Winfield,  94 
Secession,  78,  83,  100,  113,  135,  146,  149,  154,   I59~i6i,  163, 

1 66,  170-172 

Secessionist  leaders,  163 

Sectionalism,  development  of,  21 ;    causes  of,  102 
Sedgwick,  General,  335 
Semmes,  Captain,  258 
Seward,  W.  H.,  150,  185,  396 
Seymour,  Horatio,  332,  360 
Shenandoah  Valley,  378-380 

Sheridan,  General  Philip  H.,  347,  364,  375,  379,  383,  384 
Sherman,  General,  292,  315,  341,  351-355,  363~366,  368-371, 

390-393 


INDEX  419 

"  Sherman's  bummers,"  370 
expedition,  350 

Shiloh,  battle  of,  274,  275 

Sigel,  General,  376 

Slavery,  result  of  economic  conditions,  17;  institution  of, 
in  Virginia,  24;  favored  in  South  Carolina,  24;  disap 
proved  of  in  Georgia,  26;  Whitefield  on  the  justice  of, 
27;  clergy  interested  in,  27;  first  statute  establishing,  in 
Massachusetts,  28;  practised  in  New  England,  28;  sys 
tem  short-lived  in  Massachusetts,  32 ;  opposed  by  Quakers, 
34,  practically  ceases  in  New  England,  37;  status  of,  in 
New  England  States,  37,  38;  of  whites,  38;  denounced 
by  Jefferson,  39;  John  Adams's  views  on,  40;  Congres 
sional  measures  concerning,  41,  42,  44,  49;  Virginia,  first 
State  prohibiting,  43 ;  Georgia  first  Constitutional  pro 
hibition  of,  43;  legality  of,  upheld,  50;  sentiment  against, 
in  Georgia,  50;  influence  of  cotton  on,  51 ;  a  political  issue, 
53,  102;  its  bearing  on  the  war,  54;  Missouri  Compro 
mise  limits,  55,  60;  abolished  in  Mexico,  75;  Northern 
attitude  towards,  68;  Calhoun  forces  the  issue,  79;  the 
"  Underground  Railway,"  82 ;  a  "  property"  question,  101, 
130;  disrupts  religious  bodies,  106;  Kansas  the  battle-field 
of,  114;  John  Brown's  fanaticism  as  to,  119;  national 
ized,  131;  Giddings's  speech  on,  144;  contention  of  South 
as  to,  147;  Buchanan's  message  concerning,  156;  Critten- 
den  compromise  as  to,  172;  Lincoln's  views  on,  175,  320, 
321 ;  limited  abolition  of,  282,  283 ;  Thirteenth  Amend 
ment  prohibits,  400 

Slaves,  rearing  of,  in  Massachusetts,  32;  fugitive,  surren 
der  of,  42,  48 ;  Constitutional  provision  as  to,  93 ;  "  not 
citizens,"  126 ;  freed  under  martial  law,  320 

Slave  trade  in  North,  29,  45;  English  influence  favors,  34; 
in  South  Carolina,  44 ;  declaration  against  in  Vienna  Con 
gress,  45 ;  African,  102 

Slidell,  John,  179,  260 

Smith,  General  A.  J.,  350 
General  Kirby,  351,  393 
Gerrit,  143 

South,  united  by  Harper's  Ferry  raid,  143;  resources  of, 
219,  228,  232,  239 

South  Carolina,  secession  of,  167;  emancipation  proclama 
tion,  320;  Sherman  enters,  368 


420  INDEX 

"Southern  Annexationists,"  102 

armies  surrender,  388,  392,  393 

Confederacy,  177 

dissensions,  380 

domination,  57 

men  in  Federal  service,  193,  225 

Rights"  manifesto,  165 

States  refuse  to  aid  Federal  Government,  189,  190 

seize  government  property,  230-232 
South  Mountain,  engagement  at,  315 
Spottsylvania,  battle  of,  349 
Stanton,  E.  M.,  266,  301,  388,  405 

H.  B.,  69 

"  Star  of  the  West"  fired  on,  170 
State  sovereignty,  56,  79 
Status  of  seceded  States  after  war,  395,  403 
Stephens,  Alexander  H.,  164,  171,  178,  358 
Stevens,  Thaddeus,  89,  149,  395 
Stone  River,  battle  of,  284 
Storrs,  Rev.  G.,  69 
Stowe,  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher,  52 
Summer,  Charles,  121,  395 

General,  302 

T 

Taney,  Chief  Justice,  126,  177 
Tariff,  62,  65,  108,  109,  150 
Tenure  of  Office  Act,  405 
Texas,   independence   declared,   75 ;     admission   of,   objected 

to,  81 ;   annexation  of,  102 ;    secession  resolved,  171 
Thirteenth  Amendment,  400 
Thomas,  General  George  H.,  291,  351 
Thompson,  George,  69 
Toombs,  Robert,  83,  163 
Toucey,  Isaac,  225 
"  Trent"  incident,  179,  260 
Tyler,  John,  145 

U 

"  Underground  Railway,"  82 
Union  Humane  Society,  65,  73 
Universal  suffrage  established,  405 
Utah,  102 


INDEX  421 

V 

Vallandigham,  Clement  L.,  329-331 

Vandalism,  366,  370 

Vicksburg,  surrender  of,  287 

Virginia  secedes,  172;    operations  in,  199,  294,  372 

Volunteers,  Confederate,  235 

Union,  189,  191,  209,  211,  343 

W 

Wallace,  General  Lew,  268,  269,  377 

Washington,  alarm  at  Confederate  successes,  301,  313,  377 

Webster,  Daniel,  63,  84,  100 

Weldon  Railroad,  raid  on,  374 

West  Virginia  an  independent  State,  200 

Wheeler,  General  Joseph,  363 

Whig  party,  94,  109,  no 

Wilderness,  battle  of  the,  348 

Wilkes,  Captain,  260 

Wilmot  "  Proviso,"  78,  83 

Wilson's  Creek,  battle  at,  245 

Williamsburg,  engagement  at,  297 

Winchester,  battle  at,  300,  337,  364,  379 

Winthrop,  Robert  C,  329 


Yancey,  W.  L.,  148,  163 
York,  surrender  of,  339 
Yorktown,  siege  of,  296 


Zollicoffer,  General,  267 


THE  END 


THE    -TRUE"   SERIES 

Each  with  twenty-four  full-page  illustrations — portraits, 
appropriate  views,  and  fac-similes— in  each  volume.  Crown 
Svo.  Cloth  extra. 


THE   TRUE  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 
By  Paul  Leicester  Ford 

Cloth,  $2.00  ;  half  levant,  $5.00 

THE     TRUE    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN 
By  Sydney  George  Fisher 

Cloth,  |2.oo;  half  levant,  $5.00 

THE     TRUE    WILLIAM     PENN 
By  Sydney  George  Fisher 

Cloth,  $2.00 ;  half  levant,  $5.00 

THE     TRUE     THOMAS     JEFFERSON 

By  William  Eleroy  Curtis 

$2.00,  net;    postpaid,  $2.13.     Half  levant,  £5.00,  net; 
Postpaid,  $5.13 

THE      TRUE     ABRAHAM      LINCOLN 
By  William  Eleroy  Curtis 

$2.00,  net ;    postpaid,  $2.13.      Half  levant,  $5.00,  net; 
Postpaid,  $5.13 

THE   TRUE   HISTORY    OF    THE 

AMERICAN    REVOLUTION 

By  Sydney  George   Fisher 

Illustrated.      Svo.      Decorated  cloth,  $2.00,  net;    post 
paid,  $2.14.       Half  levant,  $5.00  net;  postpaid,  $5.14 

THE   TRUE    HISTORY    OF    THE 

CIVIL   WAR 
By  Guy  Carleton  Hee,  Ph.D. 

Illustrated.    Svo.     Decorated  cloth,  $2.00,  net;    post 
paid,  $2. 14.       Half  levant,  $5.00,  net;   postpaid,  $5.14 


J.     B.     LIPPINCOTT     COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS         ::         .:         PHILADELPHIA 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


"49HJ 

16W49SL 

3' Apr'  8DT 
REC'D 

MAR  18196! 


5 g 

12 '64 -4PM 


DEC  e 

LD  21-100m-9,'481B399sl6)476 


D 


3:3  i   a 


